GIFT    OF 
EVGENE  MEYER,«m 


AMERICAN   CRISIS   BIOGRAPHIES 

Edited  by 

Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.  D. 


AMERICAN  CRISIS  BIOGRAPHIES 


DANIEL  WEBSTER 


by 


FREDERIC  AUSTIN  OGG,  Ph.D. 

Associate  Professor  of  History  in  Simmons  College,  Boston, 
and  author  of  "Social  Progress  in  Contemporary  Europe," 
"The  Governments  of  Europe,"  etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 
GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1914,  BY 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 

Published  March,  1014. 


All  rights  reserved 
Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

ALTHOUGH  in  truth  one  of  the  most  human  of  men, 
Daniel  Webster  is,  and  must  remain,  for  students 
of  American  history  primarily  the  orator,  jurist,'  and 
statesman  ;  and  while  in  this  brief  biography  an  at 
tempt  has  been  made  to  convey  some  impression  of 
the  personal  characteristics  of  the  man.  and  especially 
of  the  conditions  surrounding  his  earlier  life,  space  has 
been  devoted  principally  to  the  multifold  public  ac 
tivities  by  which  his  ultimate  distinction  was  attained. 
The  subject  is  old,  and  yet  ever  fresh.  The  shelves 
of  our  libraries  groan  under  the  masses  of  books  re 
lating  to  it.  Yet  neglected  or  largely  unused  materials 
are  still  being  brought  to  light  j  and  so  intricately  do 
the  life  and  work  of  the  man  enter  into  the  very 
texture  of  the  nation's  history  that  they  are  very 
nearly  as  incapable  of  full  and  final  interpretation  as  is 
that  history  itself. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  present  sketch  liberal  use 
has  been  made  of  the  earlier  biographies,  especially  of 
the  two  excellent  ones  by  Curtis  and  Lodge,  of  the 
standard  histories,  and  of  monographs.  The  very 
abundant  source  materials,  however, — chiefly  the  writ 
ings  of  Webster  and  of  his  contemporaries, — have  been 
the  principal  reliance.  Since  the  publication,  in  1902, 
of  Professor  Van  Tyne's  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster," 
and,  in  1903,  of  the  eighteen- volume  "  National  Edi 
tion"  of  Webster's  u  Writings  and  Speeches,"  these 
sources  have  been  almost  entirely  available  in  print. 
In  the  bibliography  which  is  appended  there  is  an  enu- 


6  PBEFACE 

meration  of  tlie  most  useful  materials  of  various  kin 
In  the  foot-notes  the  title  "  Works  of  Webster  "  is  c 
ployed  to  denote  the  six-volume  edition  publisl 
originally  in  1851,  that  of  "  Writings  and  Speeche 
to  denote  the  more  recent  and  complete  edition.  1 
smaller  set  is  likely  to  be  found  in  many  places  wh 
the  larger  one  is  not  available,  and  for  this  reasoi 
has  been  deemed  desirable  to  give  references  to  botl 
To  Professor  Van  Tyne,  who,  according  to  origi 
plans,  was  to  have  written  this  volume,  I  am  indeb 
for  a  number  of  helpful  suggestions  and  for  the  i 
of  transcripts  and  other  materials  gathered  by  h 
during  the  preparation  of  his  admirable  collection 
the  "  Letters."  My  thanks  should  be  expressed,  al 
for  courtesies  received  from  the  authorities  of  i 
Library  of  Congress,  the  New  Hampshire  Histori 
Society,  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  and  1 
Boston  Athena3um. 


FREDERIC  AUSTIN  OGG 


Cambridge,  Mass., 
January  10,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

CHRONOLOGY          .       .       .       .       .  9 

I.    PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH        ...  15 

n.    PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  ...  35 

III.  THE  YOUNG  PRACTITIONER    ...  60 

IV.  IN  CONGRESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  82 
V.    LAW  AND  ORATORY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  110 

VI.    IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827     .        .  135 

VII.    IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  TARIFF        .        .  163 

VIII.    IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE  187 

IX.    THE    CONTEST   WITH   JACKSON  :    NUL 
LIFICATION        .        .                .        .  225 

X.    PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS  256 

XI.    SECRETARY  OF  STATE  :  THE  TREATY  OF 

WASHINGTON    .        .       .        .        .  286 

XII.    TEXAS,  OREGON,  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF 

1844 317 

XIII.  THE  MEXICAN  WAR  AND  THE  COMPRO 

MISE  OF  1850 343 

XIV.  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMORE  376 
XV.    THE  ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES  .  396 

BIBLIOGRAPHY        .       .       .       .       .  421 

INDEX  426 


10  CHRONOLOGY 

1813 — Jnne  10,  introduces  resolutions  relative  to  the  Berlin  a 
Milan  decrees.  December  22,  fire  destroys  Portsmov 
home. 

1813-1814 — Active  in  criticism  of  the  conduct  of  the  war  by  1 
Madison  Administration. 

1815 — January  2,  speaks  on  the  bill  to  establish  a  second  Bank 
the  United  States. 

1816 — Opposes  a  protective  tariff  bill.  Challenged  to  a  duel 
John  Randolph.  August,  removes  from  Portsmouth 
Boston. 

1817 — September,  participates  in  argument  of  the  Dartmoi 
College  Case  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire. 

1818 — March  10,  makes  notable  argument  in  behalf  of  Dartmot 
College  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

1820-1821 — November  to  January,  serves  as  a' member  of  the  c< 
vention  to  draft  a  revision  of  the  constitution  of  Massacl 

setts. 

1820 — December  22,  delivers  an  oration  at  Plymouth  coinniemo] 
tive  of  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrims. 

1822 — November,  elected  to  Congress  from  the  Suffolk  district. 

1824 — January  19,  speaks  on  the  Greek  Revolution.  April  1- 
speaks  in  opposition  to  a  protective  tariff.  Deoenibi 
visits  Jefferson  and  Madison  in  Virginia. 

1825— March,  procures  passage  of  the  Crimes  Act.  June  17,  < 
livers  first  Bunker  Hill  oration.  June-July,  excursion 
Niagara  Falls. 

1826 — January  4,  speaks  in  behalf  of  a  reform  of  the  federal  ju< 
ciary.  August  2,  delivers  eulogy  on  Adams  and  Jefferson 

1827— June,  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

1828 — January  21,  Mrs.  Webster  dies.     May  9,  speaks  in  suppt 
*    of  the  "  tariff  of  abominations."     June  5,  is  given  a  pub 
dinner  in   Faneuil   Hall.     December,    brings  suit  agair 
Theodore  Lyman  for  libel. 

1829 — April  10,  Ezekiel  Webster  dies.  December,  marries  M 
Caroline  LeRoy,  of  New  York  City. 

1830 — January  20-27,  engages  in  debate  with  Senator  Hayne  « 
the  nature  of  the  Union.  August-September,  partioipal 
in  the  Knapp  trials. 

1831— March  10,  is  tendered  a  public  dinner  at  the  City  Hoti 
New  York.  Widely  considered  as  a  possible  candidate  1 
the  presidency.  Begins  the  acquisition  of  land  at  Marshfiel 


CHRONOLOGY  11 

1832 — Aprils,  submits  a  report  on  the  apportionment  of  represeuta- 

^^        tives.     May  25,  speaks  on  the  bill  to  renew  the  charter  of  the 

^*        United  States   Bank.     July  11,  speaks  on  the  President's 

veto  of  the  Bank  Bill.     October  12,  speaks  at  the  National 

Republican  convention  at  Worcester. 

.  1833 — February  16,  delivers  the  speech  u  The  Constitution  not  a 
Compact  between  Sovereign  States,"  in  reply  to  Calhoun. 
Opposes  the  Compromise  Tariff,,  May-June,  makes  a  visit 
to  the  Middle  West. 

1834 — January-June,  makes  numerous  speeches  in  the  Senate  on 
the  President's  course  regarding  the  removal  of  the  deposits 
and  on  the  subject  of  a  national  bank.  May  7,  speaks  ou 
the  President's  protest  against  the  Senate's  resolutions  of 
censure. 

1835 — January  12,  speaks  on  the  claims  arising  from  French 
spoliations  prior  to  1800.  January,  is  nominated  for  the 
presidency  by  the  Whig  majority  of  the  Massachusetts 
legislature.  February  16,  speaks  on  the  appointing  and 
removing  powers  of  the  President.  October  12,  is  presented 
with  a  vase  by  the  citizens  of  Boston. 

1836 — January  14,  explains  the  grounds  of  opposition  to  the  Forti 
fications  Bill  of  1835.  Receives  the  electoral  vote  of  Massa 
chusetts  for  the  presidency.  December  21,  speaks  on  the 
Specie  Circular. 

1837 — January  16,  protests  against  the  Expunging  Resolution. 
Proposes  to  retire  from  the  Senate,  but  is  persuaded  not  to 
do  so.  March  15,  delivers  an  important  speech  in  Niblo's 
Garden,  New  York.  June-July,  makes  an  extended  visit 
to  the  Middle  West.  September  28,  speaks  on  the  regula 
tion  of  the  currency. 

1838 — January  31  and  March  12,  speaks  on  the  President's  in 
dependent  treasury  proposals. 

1839— May  18,  sails  for  a  brief  visit  to  Great  Britain.  July  18, 
addresses  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  at  Oxford.  De 
cember  29,  arrives  in  New  York. 

lo?(P— Supports  Harrison  and  Tyler  for  the  presidency  and  vice- 
presidency.  December  1,  receives  from  General  Harrison  an 
offer  of  the  State  or  the  Treasury  portfolio.  December 
11,  accepts  the  secretaryship  of  state. 

1841 — February  22,  resigns  seat  in  the  Senate,  being  succeeded  by 
Rufus  Choate.  May-September,  watches  apprehensively  the 
conflict  of  President  Tyler  and  the  Whigs  in  Congress. 
September,  refuses  to  resign  from  the  cabinet  with  his 
colleagues.  September-October,  assists  in  the  settlement  of 
the  McLeod  Case. 


12  CHRONOLOGY 

1842 — June,  opens  negotiations  with  Lord  Ashburton  relative  to 
the  northeastern  boundary  and  other  matters  in  dispute  with 
Great  Britain.  August  9,  signs  the  treaty  of  Washington. 
September  30,  speaks  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  defense  of  his  refusal 
to  retire  from  the  cabinet. 

1843 — May  8,  resigns  the  secretaryship  of  state  and  retires  to 
Marshfieid.  June  17,  delivers  the  second  Bunker  Hill 
oration.  November  3,  addresses  the  convention  of  Massachu 
setts  Whigs  at  Audover. 

1844— Participates  actively  in  the  campaign  for  the  election  of 
Clay. 

1843— December  22,  speaks  in  protest  against  the  annexation  of 
Texas. 

1816— February  26,  opposes  the  resolution  to  give  immediate  notice 
to  Great  Britain  concerning  Oregon.  April  6-7,  speaks  in 
defense  of  the  treaty  of  Washington.  Accepts  an  annuity 
from  Massachusetts  friends.  July  25-27,  speaks  on  the 
Walker  tariff. 

1847— March  1,  speaks  on  the  Three  Million  Bill.  April-May, 
makes  a  journey  through  the  South. 

1848— January  25,  a  son,  Major  Edward  Webster,  dies  in  Mexico. 
March  17,  speaks  on  the  Ten  Regiment  Bill.  March  23, 
speaks  on  the  Objects  of  the  Mexican  War.  April  28,  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Julia  Webster  Appleton,  dies.  June  9, 
General  Taylor  is  nominated  for  the  presidency  by  the 
Whigs.  October  1  and  24,  speaks  at  Marshfieid  and  in 
Faneuil  Hall  advising,  with  reluctance,  that  the  Whigs 
support  Taylor. 

1849— February  22,  introduces  a  bill  proposing  to  postpone  the 
issue  of  slavery  in  the  newly  acquired  territories. 

1850 — January  25,  Clay  introduces  his  Compromise  Measures. 
March  7,  delivers  notable  speech  in  behalf  of  the  Com 
promise.  July  9,  Fillmore  succeeds  to  the  presidency. 
July  23,  enters  upon  second  period  of  service  in  the  State 
Department.  December  22,  speaks  at  the  Pilgrim  Festival 
at  New  York. 

1851— May,  accompanies  the  President  on  a  trip  through  central 
New  York.  July  4,  delivers  an  oration  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  an  addition  to  the  Capitol.  V  December  21, 
transmits  to  Baron  Hiilsemann  a  letter  proclaiming  the  power 
and  independeuce  of  the  United  States.  Adjusts  difficulties 
arising  from  an  attack  on  the  Spanish  consulate  in  New 
Orleans.  November,  is  urged  by  the  Massachusetts  Whigs 
for  the  presidential  nomination. 


CHKONOLOGY  13 

1852 — January  7,  speaks  at  a  banquet  tendered  to  Louis  Kossuth. 
February  24,  addresses  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 
June  16,  Whig  nominating  convention  assembles  in  Balti 
more,  ^omiuation  of  General  Scott  and  disappointment  of 
Webster.  July  9,  is  tendered  a  reception  by  the  people  of 
Boston.  July  26,  is  welcomed  by  the  citizens  of  Aiarshfield. 
July  36,  offers  to  resign  the  secretaryship  of  state.  September 
8,  leaves  Washington  for  the  last  time.  September  20, 
makes  last  visit  to  Boston.  October  24,  dies  at  Marshfield. 

fitta 


M; 


DANIEL  WEBSTER 


CHAPTER  I 

PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH 

IN  the  history  of  New  England,  hardly  less  than  in 
that  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valleys,  the  termina 
tion  of  French  dominion  in  America  in  1763  was  an 
epoch-marking  event.  In  the  one  region  as  in  the 
other  the  tension  which  through  a  centnry  had  been 
growing  ever  more  threatening  between  the  westward 
pressure  of  the  seaboard,  English-speaking  population, 
and  the  stubbornly  resisting  powers  of  French  and  In 
dian  allies  was  brought  definitely  to  an  end,  and  vast 
stretches  of  virgin  territory,  hitherto  largely  inacces 
sible,  were  thrown  open  for  uncontested  and  profitable 
exploitation.  At  the  beginning,  in  1754,  of  the  last 
and  greatest  phase  of  the  Anglo-French  combat  in 
America  an  aggregate  area  not  much  in  excess  of  a 
third  of  the  66,424  square  miles  now  comprised  in  the 
six  states  of  New  England  was  occupied,  in  even  the 
smallest  measure,  by  English  colonists,  and  every 
where  the  frontier  line  still  hovered  very  near  the  At 
lantic.  The  regions  still  awaiting  population  included 
virtually  the  whole  of  Vermont ;  all  of  New  Hamp 
shire  save  a  strip  along  the  coast,  the  Merrimac  valley 
northward  to  New  Hampton,  and  a  bit  of  the  Con 
necticut  valley  in  the  southwest ;  all  of  Maine  except 
an  irregular  coastal  strip  from  the  Piscataqua  to 


16  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Penobscot  Bay  ;  and  broad  areas  in  western  and  nortl) 
ern  Massachusetts.1    The  aggregate  population  of  the 
New  England  colonies  was  approximately  400, 000. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  there  came  an  outburst  cf 
expansive  enterprise  in  consequence  of  which  there 
was  wrought  a  remarkable  sectional  transformation. 
Although  within  the  settled  portions  of  every  one  cf 
the  colonies,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Rhode 
Island,  there  was  still  an  abundance  of  vacant  and  till 
able  land,  men  of  rugged  fibre  and  restless  spirit,  a<  - 
custoined  to  pioneer  conditions  and  impatient  wifci 
the  restraints  of  a  rapidly  conventionalizing  society, 
cut  loose  by  the  hundreds  from  their  uncongenial  or 
unpromising  surroundings  and  went  off  with  their 
families  and  possessions  into  the  mountains  and  valleys 
of  the  interior  in  quest  of  land,  livelihood,  and  larger 
opportunity.  The  passing  and  repassing  of  colonial 
troops  through  the  disputed  northern  territory  during 
the  course  of  the  war  had  served  to  familiarize  many 
people  with  the  resources  of  the  back  country,  and  the 
upshot  was  that,  long  in  advance  of  the  formal  signa 
ture  of  peace,  the  royal  governors  of  New  York  and 
New  Hampshire  were  driving  a  lucrative  business  in 
the  granting  of  land  tracts  to  thrifty  speculators  and 
settlers.  In  the  single  year,  1761,  not  fewer  than  sixty 
townships  were  granted  on  the  western  side  of  the  Con 
necticut  and  eighteen  on  the  eastern.  The  grantees 
began  forthwith  the  quest  of  purchasers  and  tenants 
and  thereby  stimulated  substantially  an  influx  which 
was  already  setting  in  from  the  adjacent  province  of 
Massachusetts,  and  from  remoter  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island.  All  fear  of  French  attack  and,  for  the 
moment,  of  Indian  outbreak,  was  removed.  The  task 
1  Matthews,  "  The  Expansion  of  New  England,"  chap.  4. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  17 

as  it  presented  itself  to  the  prospective  settler  was  one 
simply  of  occupying  cheap  lands  and  wresting  from  a 
niggardly  soil  the  means  of  a  plain  but  comfortable 
existence — a  task  from  which  the  average  New  Eng- 
htuder  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  in  no  wise  dis 
posed  to  shrink.  Only  with  the  northward  and  west 
ward  rush  of  settlers  after  1760,  so  the  historian  of  New 
Hampshire  tells  us,  began  the  prosperity  of  the  later 
Granite  State  ; l  and  one  would  hardly  go  far  wrong  in 
making  the  same  affirmation  concerning  New  Eng 
land  as  a  whole. 

In  1749  a  band  of  pioneer  farmers  of  Kingston,  in 
southeastern  New  Hampshire,  had  obtained  from  Gov 
ernor  Benniug  Weutworth  the  grant  of  a  township 
uear  the  centre  of  the  province,  so  located  that  it  in 
cluded  the  spot  where  the  Merrimac  River  is  formed 
by  the  confluence  of  the  Pemigewasset  and  the  Win- 
nipiseogee,  some  eighteen  miles  north  of  the  present 
town  of  Concord.  The  leader  of  the  group  was  a  cer 
tain  Colonel  Ebenezer  Stevens,  in  whose  honor  the 
first  settlement  established,  Stevenstown  (incorporated 
under  the  name  of  Salisbury  in  1767),  was  named  ; 
and  among  the  settlers  who  after  a  few  years  were  at 
tracted  thither  was  a  stalwart  frontiersman  who,  it  ap 
pears,  when  a  child  had  been  bound  to  Stevens  as  an 
apprentice,  Captain  Ebenezer  Webster.  Ebenezer 
Webster  was  a  typical  eighteenth-century  New  Eng 
land  soldier-farmer.  Born  in  Kingston  in  1739,  al 
ready  by  1763  he  had  crowded  into  his  twenty-four 
years  more  adventure  than  is  allotted  the  ordinary  man 
of  three  score  and  ten.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and 
freeholder  of  the  same  name,  and  his  remoter  ancestry 
can  still  be  traced  back,  in  the  town  records  of  Hamp- 
1  Belknap,  "  History  of  New  Hampshire,"  Vol.  II,  p.  312. 


18  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

ton,  Kingston  (now  East  Kingston),  and  Salisbury,  ro 
a  Thomas  Webster,  who  settled  at  Hampton,  on  the 
New  Hampshire  coast,  only  sixteen  years  after  tht 
coming  of  the  Mayflower.  The  family,  although  resi 
dent  in  England  some  generations  before  emigration, 
was  apparently  of  Lowland  Scotch  origin. 

The  boyhood  of  Ebeuezer  Webster  fell  in  an  excitii  g 
period — the  years  when  all  New  England  was  arousi  d 
by  King  George's  War,  and,  in  particular,  by  the  ex 
ploit  of  Pepperell  and  his  men  at  Louisburg.  The;-e 
was  little  time,  and  less  opportunity,  for  the  acqu la 
ment  of  an  education.  The  boy,  as  a  pupil,  never  saw 
the  inside  of  a  schoolroom.  He  none  the  less  picked 
up  a  good  deal  of  knowledge  of  a  homely  and  practical 
sort,  and  even  became  in  a  limited  degree  a  reader  and 
student  of  books.  Some  of  the  earliest  records  of  the 
town  of  Salisbury  are  in  his  handwriting.  After  the 
age  of  twelve  or  fifteen  he  lived  for  several  years  in 
the  family  of  Colonel  Stevens,  until,  apparently  in 
1760,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  enlisted  in  one  ol 
the  famous  companies  of  "  rangers  "  commanded  by 
Eobert  Eogers,  which  accompanied  Sir  Jeffrey  Am- 
herst  on  his  invasion  of  Canada.  Upon  the  conclusion 
of  the  war  the  young  man,  now  a  captain,  returned 
to  Kingston,  where  he  married,  in  1761,  Mehi table 
Smith.  Some  months  later,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
and  by  several  fellow- townsmen — most  of  them,  like 
himself,  but  lately  thrown  out  of  military  employment 
—he  traversed  the  almost  unbroken  way  to  his  patron's 
wilderness  settlement,  Stevenstowu.  The  new  town 
ship,  as  originally  laid  out,  comprised  a  tract  four 
miles  in  width  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Merrimac, 
and  extended  to  the  southwest  a  distance  of  some  nine 
miles,  almost  to  the  summit  of  Kearsarge  Mountain. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  19 

To  Webster  fell  the  northernmost  portion  of  it, — so 
that  after  he  had  erected  his  log  cabin  on  a  hill  three 
miles  west  of  the  Merrimac  and  lighted  his  fire,  "his 
smoke  ascended  nearer  to  the  North  Star  than  that  of 
any  other  of  his  Majesty's  New  England  subjects."  l  His 
nearest  civilized  neighbor  on  the  north  was  at  Montreal. 

Life  in  most  parts  of  rural  New  England  in  the  eight 
eenth  century  was  hard  and  prosaic.  Nowhere,  per 
haps,  was  it  more  so  than  among  the  hills  of  central 
New  Hampshire.  The  soil  was  shallow  and  unproduc 
tive.  Eoads  and  bridges  scarcely  existed.  The  winters 
were  long  and  forbidding.  Of  newspapers,  books, 
schools,  and  other  agencies  of  entertainment  and  in 
formation,  there  were  few  or  none.  There  was  not  even 
entire  security,  for  although  the  French  no  longer 
threatened  from  Montreal  or  Quebec,  in  the  woods 
lurked  savages  ready  to  steal  and  destroy,  if  not  actu 
ally  to  burn  and  kill.  As  late  as  1775  a  frontiersman's 
wife  was  slain  by  marauding  redskins  within  three 
miles  of  the  Webster  homestead.  Unceasing  toil, 
recurring  hardship,  and  not  infrequent  danger— con 
ditions  which  only  men  and  women  of  the  toughest  fibre 
could  hope  to  meet  and  overcome — were  the  certain 
lot  of  every  common  wealth -builder  of  northern  and 
western  New  England  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

"My  first  clear  and  distinct  recollection  of  my 
father's  appearance,"  wrote  Daniel  \Vebsterinl820, 
1 1  was  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  fifty.  I  think  it  was 
rather  striking  ;  he  was  tall,  six  feet,  or  six  feet  within 
half  an  inch,  erect,  with  a  broad  and  full  chest,  hair 
still  of  an  unchanged  black,  features  rather  large  and 
prominent.  He  had  a  decisive  air  and  bearing,  partly 

1  "  Autobiography  of  Daniel  Webster."  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  5. 


20  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  effect,  I  suppose,  of  early  soldiership.  .  .  . 
The  last  time  I  ever  saw  General  Stark,  he  paid  ms 
the  compliment  of  saying  that  my  complexion  was  like 
that  of  my  father,  and  that  his  was  of  that  cast,  so  cor  - 
venient  for  a  soldier,  that  burnt  gunpowder  did  net 
change  it.7' 1  Writing  in  1846,  Webster  said  of  his 
father  :  "He  had  in  him  what  I  collect  to  have  bee  a 
the  character  of  some  of  the  old  Puritans.  He  was 
deeply  religious,  but  not  sour.  On  the  contrary,  gooc  - 
humored,  facetious,  showing  even  in  his  age,  with  .1 
contagious  laugh,  teeth  all  as  white  as  alabaster,  gentle-, 
soft,  playful,  and  yet  having  a  heart  in  him  that  he 
seemed  to  have  borrowed  from  a  lion.  He  couM 
frown ;  a  frown  it  was  ;  but  cheerfulness,  good- 
huinor,  and  smiles  composed  his  most  usual  as 
pect."  2  As  a  man  of  sound  common  sense,  of  correct 
judgment,  and  of  resolute  character,  a  patriotic,  devout, 
high-minded  citizen,  the  elder  Webster  early  achieved 
a  solid  reputation  throughout  the  section  of  the  country 
in  which  he  lived.  In  1768  he  was  chosen  by  his 
neighbors  moderator  of  the  Salisbury  town-meeting,  an 
office  to  which  he  was  thereafter  elected  forty -three 
times,  serving  for  the  last  time  in  1803.  In  March, 
1774,  after  ten  years  of  backwoods  existence,  Mrs. 
Webster  died.  Of  the  five  children  she  had  borne, 
two — a  sou  and  a  daughter — had  died  young,  while 
three — a  daughter,  Susannah,  and  two  sous,  David  and 
Joseph — survived.  Within  the  year  (in  August)  the 
father  married  again,  the  second  wife  being  Abigail 
Eastman,  a  woman,  according  to  all  accounts,  of  more 
than  ordinary  force  of  will  and  loftiness  of  soul. 

1  "  Autobiography   of    Daniel   Webster."      Webster,    "Private 
Correspondence, "  Vol.  I,  pp.  4-6. 

2  Webster  to  Blatohford,  Ma)T  3,  1846.     Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  229. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  21 

Early  in  1775  the  storm  of  war  broke  upon  the 
colonies.  Among  the  first  patriots  to  respond  to  the 
call  to  arms  which  followed  Concord  and  Lexington  was 
Captain  Ebenezer  Webster.  The  town  of  Salisbury  had 
so  grown  that  it  was  now  able  to  muster  a  company  of 
two  hundred  men,  and  throughout  the  larger  portion  of 
the  war  this  company,  raised  by  the  efforts  of  Webster 
from  among  his  neighbors  and  kindred,  marched  and 
bivouacked  and  fought  under  his  command.  At  the 
operations  about  Boston  in  1775-1776,  at  White  Plains 
in  1776,  with  General  Stark  at  Benningtouin  1777,  and 
at  West  Point  on  the  occasion  of  the  discovery  of 
Arnold's  treason  in  1780 — not  to  mention  a  fruitless 
expedition  to  aid  in  the  relief  of  Ticonderoga  in  1777— 
Captain  Webster  rendered  services  of  an  intrepid  and 
highly  honorable  character.  The  proudest  moment  of 
his  career  came  when,  on  the  night  following  the  ex 
posure  of  Arnold's  treachery,  he  was  selected  to  stand 
guard  in  front  of  General  Washington's  headquarters, 
and  when,  if  tradition  is  to  be  accredited,  the  general 
declared  to  him,  "  Cap  tain  Webster,  I  believe  lean 
trust  you.'1''  In  the  New  Hampshire  militia  he  rose,  by 
1785,  to  the  rank  of  colonel. 

Interspersed  with  military  services  were  not  only 
hurried  intervals  of  farming  but  labors  of  a  civic 
nature.  By  his  neighbors  Webster  was  sent  as  a  dele 
gate  to  the  convention  which  framed  the  first  New 
Hampshire  constitution.  More  than  once  he  sat  as  a 
member  of  committees  having  charge  of  the  regulation 
of  prices,  the  prevention  of  forestalling,  and  the  raising 
of  the  town's  quota  of  troops.  Three  times,  in  all,  he 
was  chosen  first  selectman,  and  three  times  town  clerk. 
And  with  the  establishment  of  a  state  government  the 
range  of  his  political  activities  was  broadened.  During 


22  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  after  the  war  he  served  four  terms  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  state  legislature  and  four  in  the  upper  one. 
In  1788  he  was  a  member  of  the  Exeter  convention 
called  to  consider  the  ratification  of  the  proposed 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  adjourned 
session  of  that  convention,  at  Concord,  in  the  following 
June,  he  is  reputed  to  have  given  material  assistance 
in  carrying  the  day  for  the  new  frame  of  government. 
In  1789  he  served  as  a  presidential  elector,  and  from 
1791  until  his  death,  in  April,  1806,  he  was  continued 
by  the  suffrage  of  his  neighbors  in  the  office  of  judge 
of  the  court  of  common  pleas  for  the  county  of  Hills- 
borough. 

Meanwhile  certain  changes  had  come  about  in  the 
economy  of  the  Webster  household.  With  the  growth 
of  the  family  a  larger  and  better  dwelling  became  a 
necessity,  and  shortly  before  the  close  of  the  war  a 
"  frame ' '  house  was  built,  not  far  from  the  old  structure4 
of  logs.  The  new  building  was  a  typical  New  England 
farmhouse  of  the  old  days — "one  story  high,  clap- 
boarded,  with  the  chimney  in  the  centre,  the  door  in 
the  middle  of  the  south  side,  four  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor,  and  a  lean-to  in  the  rear  for  a  kitchen."  l  The 
evidence  is  not  entirely  conclusive,  but  it  would  appeal- 
that,  of  the  five  children  borne  by  Captain  Webster's 
second  wife,  two  first  saw  the  light  in  the  old  log  house, 
two  others  in  the  frame  dwelling,  and  the  lifth  in  51 
house  three  miles  to  the  eastward  to  which  the  family 

1  McMaster,  "  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  6.  The  house,  still  standing, 
is  located  four  miles  from  the  centre  of  the  town  of  Franklin  on  the 
Salisbury  road.  In  recent  years  it  has  been  leased  to  various  per 
sons  by  a  building  and  loan  association  by  which  it  is  owned.  In 
1912  an  organization  was  formed,  under  the  presidency  of  Ex- 
Senator  William  E.  Chandler,  for  the  purchase  and  preservation 
of  the  homestead. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  23 

removed  in  1783.  Of  the  five,  three  were  daughters — 
Mehitable,  Abigail,  and  Sarah.  Of  the  two  sons, 
Ezekiel  was  born  in  the  log  house,  April  11,  1780 ; 
Daniel,  in  the  frame  structure,  January  18,  1782. 

The  piece  of  ground  to  which  Captain  Webster 
removed  during  the  year  following  Daniel's  birth  was 
known  in  later  days  as  "  Elms  Farm."  It  was  situated 
in  a  valley  two  and  a  half  miles  to  the  south  of  the 
head  of  the  Merrimac.  At  the  time  when  the  Websters 
made  it  their  homestead,  it  was  included  within  the 
township  of  Salisbury,  although  subsequently  it  fell 
within  that  part  of  the  parent  township  which,  in  1828, 
was  set  off  under  the  name  of  Franklin.  From  a  sheep- 
pasture,  which  commanded  the  most  extensive  out 
look  from  the  farm,  Ascutney  Mountain,  to  the  north 
west,  in  Vermont,  was  plainly  visible,  as,  to  the  north 
east,  was  the  snow-capped  summit  of  Mount  Washing 
ton.  Altogether,  with  hills  and  valleys  and  distant 
mountain  stretches,  the  physical  environment  amidst 
which  it  was  the  fortune  of  the  boy  Daniel  to  grow  tip 
contained  much  that  was  impressive,  even  awe-inspir 
ing.  That  his  earliest  recollection,  recorded  in  his 
autobiography,  should  have  been  one  of  those  spectac 
ular  visitations  of  Nature — a  devastating  flood — to-, 
which  the  New  England  hills  are  liable,  is  hardly  sur 
prising.  The  spell  cast  over  him  by  rugged,  relentless  / 
Nature  as  he  studied  her  and  wondered  at  her  subtle  A 
power,  never  left  him,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  \ 
fancy  that  to  its  influence  he  owed  something  of  that } 
ruggedness  and  force  which  were  to  make  of  him  a 
veritable  giant  among  men. 

Ezekiel  Webster  was  the  common  sort  of  New  Eng 
land  boy,  sturdy,  self-reliant,  ready  at  the  age  of  ten 
or  twelve  to  bear  a  hand  in  the  rough  task  of  maintain- 


34  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ing  the  family  group.  But  the  younger  Daniel  seemed 
distinctly  less  fortunate  and  less  promising.  Delicate, 
even  sickly,  in  his  infancy,  as  a  boy  he  was  altogether 
incapable  of  manual  labor.  He  accordingly  was  al 
lowed,  and  encouraged,  to  spend  his  time  in  the  fields 
and  woods  at  plaj^  Racing  over  the  meadows,  steal 
ing  among  the  frees  to  watch  the  habits  of  animals  and 
birds,  fishing,  and  occasionally  riding  horseback  up 
and  down  the  corn  rows  which  his  lather  was  ploughing, 
he  gradually  accumulated  a  larger  vitality  than  fond 
parents  had  dared  hope  for  him,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  filled  his  mind  with  a  lore  not  then,  or  at  any  time, 
satisfactorily  to  be  had  from  books.  As  an  almost  in 
separable  companion,  the  boy  had,  through  many  years, 
a  curious  old  character  by  the  name  of  Robert  Wise— 
an  unlettered  adventurer  who  had  fought  in  several 
European  wars,  had  served  with  the  New  Hampshire 
levies  in  the  Revolution,  and  had  at  last  settled  for  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  a  little  cottage  located  on  ;t 
corner  of  Elms  Farm.  Between  the  two  a  bargain  was 
quickly  struck  whereby  the  old  soldier  was  to  instruct 
the  boy  in  angling  and  other  outdoor  sports,  as  well  as 
to  entertain  him  from  an  apparently  inexhaustible 
fund  of  experiences  and  anecdotes,  in  return  for  which 
young  Daniel  was  to  read  to  his  companion,  "  still  a 
true  Briton,"  such  accounts  of  British  affairs  and  deeds 
of  valor  as  could  be  wrung  from  the  meagre  newspapers 
of  the  day.  "Alas,  poor  Robert,"  runs  a  passage  in 
the  autobiography  of  later  years,  "I  have  never  so 
attained  the  narrative  art  as  to  hold  the  attention  of 
others  as  thou,  with  thy  Yorkshire  tongue,  hast  held 
mine.'' l 

But  all  was  not  mere  play  and  entertainment.    There 
1  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  16. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  25 

was  the  problem  of  an  education.  In  his  autobiography 
Webster  tells  us  that  he  was  unable  to  remember  when 
or  by  whom  he  was  taught  to  read,  and  that  he  never 
could  recollect  a  time  when  he  was  not  able  to  read  the 
Bible.  His  supposition  was  that  he  was  taught  by  his 
mother  or  his  elder  sisters,  and  the  instruction  must 
have  begun  at  the  tender  age  of  three  or  four.  Of  op 
portunity  for  further  education  there  was  none  save 
such  as  was  afforded  by  the  extremely  inadequate  town 
schools  of  the  vicinity.  Ambitious,  even  as  a  child,  to 
extend  his  range  of  information,  and  given  every  en 
couragement  by  the  members  of  his  family,  the  boy 
attended  these  __se^fiola.  _as_  jcegnlarly  .  jis  heal  th  and_ 
weather  permitted.  That  district  of  the  town  of  Salis 
bury  in  which  the  Webster  family  lived  contained, 
indeed,  three  log  schoolhouses.  The  itinerant  masters, 
however,  who  elsewhere  came  from  time  to  time  into 
such  communities  and  dispensed  learn  ing  in  its  simpler 
forms  seldom  penetrated  so  far  as  the  Webster  com 
munity,  so  that  the  keeping  of  schools  fell  almost  ex 
clusively  to  various  small  farmers  or  storekeepers  who 
sought  thereby  to  eke  out  their  precarious  livelihood. 
One  may  well  believe  that  such  teachers,  to  employ 
Webster's  own  phrase,  were  "sufficiently  indifferent.  " 
In  these  schools,  he  says,  "  nothing  was 


,  as  to  these,  the  first  I  geuer-^ 
ally  could  perform  better^Ean  the~teacher,  and  tlieTast 
a  good  master  couloThardly"  Instruct  me  in  ;  writing  was 
so  laborious,  irksome,  and  repulsive  an  occupation  to 
me  always.  My  masters  used  to  tell  me  that  they 
feared,  after  all,  my  fingers  were  destined  for  the 
plough-tail."  *  The  first  of  these  masters,  Thomas 
Chase,  is  said  to  have  been  able  to  read  and  write  with 
1  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  7. 


26  DANIEL  WEBSTBE 

fair  facility,  but  to  have  floundered  hopelessly  with  his 
spelling.  Another,  Jaines  Tappau,  who  occasionally 
"  boarded  "  with  the  Websters,  was  more  proficient. 

For  most  children  attendance  at  school  was  restricted 
to  the  eight  or  ten  weeks  of  the  year  during  which  in 
structiou  was  being  offered  in  the  immediate  neighbor 
hood.  While  still  but  six  or  eight  years  of  age,  how 
ever,  Daniel  persisted_iu i^valki ug2_eveu  in_the  depth 
of  winter,  to  and  from  a  school  two  and  a  half  or  three 
miles  distant.  And  when  no  opportunity  was  to  be 
had  within  even  this  distance,  the  boyjs ^indulgent 
father  sometimes  made  arrangements  for  him  to  board 
for  a  few  weeks  with  a  family  UvliTg7n"lhe~viciuity  of 
a  school  that  was  more  remote.  ' '  A  good  deal  of  this, " 
the  autobiography  records,  * '  was  an  extra  care,  more 
than  had  been  bestowed  on  my  elder  brothers,  and 
originating  in  a  conviction  of  the  slenderuess  and 
frailty  of  my  constitution,  which  was  thought  not 
likely  ever  to  allow  me  to  pursue  robust  occupation."  ! 

The  sacrifice^jwasjvell  repaid.  The  boy  was  not  a 
prodigy,  but  he~ learned  rapidly  and  remembered 
unfailingly  all  that  heUacl  been  taught.  When,  upon 
one  occasion,  a  master,  as  a  special  inducement  to 
industry,  made  an  offer  of  a  jack-knife  to  the  pupil 
who  at  a  specified  time  should  be  able  to  recite  the 
largest  number  of  verses  of  Scripture,  Daniel  easily 
carried  off  the  prize,  and  without  being  allowed,  so 
we  are  assured,  to  reel  off  the  full  quota  of  passages 
which  he  had  tucked  away  in  his  mind  for  the  occasion. 
Outside  of  school  herea^Las_widely  as  the  restricted  op 
portunities  of  the  irontier^ermitted.  Hts^ifHef  and 
certain  other  men  of  standing  in  the  community  estab 
lished  a  small  circulating  library,  and  from  this  Daniel 
'Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  7. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH 

obtained  a  variety  of  books,  most  of  them  of  fair  quality 
and  readableness.  AuiODg  them  was  Addison's  i '  Spec 
tator,7'  which,  by  reason  of  the  boy's  decided  taste  for 
poetry,  was  a  godsend,  although  he  tells  us  that  it  per 
plexed  him  not  a  little  that  the  essayist  should  have 
taken  so  great  pains  to  demonstrate  the  beauty  of  Chevy 
Chase,  a  thing  which  was  so  perfectly  self-evident.  At 
the  age  of  ten  or  twelve  he  could  repeat  from  memory 
the  greater  portion  of  the  psalms  and  hymns  of  Dr. 
Watts,  and  not  seldom  in  his  later  life  did  he  draw  upon 
them  for  apt  quotation.  u  I  remember,"  he  records  in 
the  autobiography,  "  that  my  father  brought  home  from 
some  of  the  lower  towns  Pope's  l  Essay  on  Man/  pub 
lished  in  a  sort  of  pamphlet.  I  took  it,  and  very  soon 
could  repeat  it,  from  the  beginning  to  end.  We  had 
so  few  books  that  to  read  them  once  or  twice  was  noth 
ing.  We  thought  they  were  all  to  be  got  by  heart."  L 
Even  the  arrival  of  the  yearly  almanac  was  an  event, 
and  upon  one  occasion  it  came  near  being  attended  with 
disastrous  consequences.  Eising  by  candle-light  at  two 
o'clock  one  morning  to  ascertain  a  word  in  the  third 
line  of  the  quatrain  set  down  at  the  top  of  the  page 
devoted  to  April,  young  Daniel  accidentally  set  the 
house  on  fire,  and  it  was  only  by  his  father's  presence 
of  mind  that  the  property,  and  perhaps  the  family, 
was  saved.  The  boy's  chagrin  was  not  lessened  by  the 
discovery  that  in  the  dispute  in  which  he  and  Ezekiel 
had  been  engaged  relative  to  the  April  quatrain  he  had 
been  in  the  wrong. 

When  Daniel  was  not  more  than  eight  years  of  age 
there  fell  into  his  hands  a  copy  of  the  recently  adopted 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  From  his  father, 
whose  hard-headed  reasoning  in  the  Concord  conven- 

1  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  8. 


28  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tiou  of  two  years  before  had  helped  turn  the  tide  in 
favor  of  a  ratification  of  the  instrument,  the  boy  must 
have  picked  up  a  good  deal  of  information  concerning 
the  pressing  political  problems  of  the  time.  He  had 
never  seen  the  text  of  the  new  frame  of  government, 
however,  until  one  day,  in  a  little  store  kept  by  William 
Hoyt,  he  bought  for  a  few  cents  a  small  cotton  pocket- 
handkerchief,  on  the  two  sides  of  which  was  printed  the 
Constitution,  embellished  with  crude  cuts  of  flags  and 
other  emblems.  It  was  a  gaudy  affair,  proudly  exhib 
ited  by  the  owner,  but  roundly  complained  of  by  the 
good  housewife  on  the  ground  that  it  "  wouldn't  wash.  " 
The  printed  matter  was  painstakingly  spelled  out  and 
studied,  and  from  it  the  boy  learned,  as  was  laughingly 
remarked  in  later  years,  "  that  there  was  a  constitution, 
—  or  that  there  were  thirteen  states."  Relating  the 
incident,  in  1850,  Webster  testified  that  this  was  his 
earliest  acquaintance  with  the  Constitution,  adding 
naively  that  he  had  "  known  more  or  less  of  it  ever 
since."  l 

Until  his  fourteenth  year  the  life  of  the  boy  flowed 
in  its  accustomed  channels.  "A  great  deal  of  the 
time,"  he  records,  "  I  was  sick,  and  when  well  was  ex 
ceedingly  slender,  and  apparently  of  feeble  system.  I 
read  what  I  could  get  to  read,  went  to  school  when  I 
eould  ;  and  when  not  at  school  was  a  farmer's  youngest 
l>oy,  not  good  for  much,  for  want  of  health  and  strength, 
but  was  expected  to  do  something."  2  There  appeared 
no  hope  of  an  education  beyond  such  as  might  be  af 
forded  by  the  agencies  that  have  been  described.  In 
1791,  however,  there  had  come  an  improvement  in  the 
affairs  of  the  elder  Webster  which  eventually  opened 


1  WflhBter,  "  Private  Correspondence.'-  Vol.  II,  p.  398 
*  Webster,  Ibid.,  Vol.1,  p.  9. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  29 

the  way  to  a  wider  opportunity  for  the  son.  Possessed 
in  ever  increasing  measure  of  the  confidence  and  favor 
of  his  neighbors,  Ebenezer  Webster  was  elevated  in 
1791  to  a  "side,77  i.  e.,  an  associate,  justiceship  in  the 
court  of  common  pleas  for  the  county  in  which  he 
resided.  There  was  attached  to  the  office  a  salary  of 
three  or  four  hundred  dollars  a  year.  This  acquisition 
made  a  world  of  difference  in  the  economy  of  the 
Webster  household,  and  gradually  there  took  shape  in 
the  Judge's  mind  a  plan  for  the  further  education  of 
his  youngest  son.  All  of  the  sons  save  Daniel  and 
Ezekiel  were  long  since  settled  in  life.  As  between  the 
two  who  remained,  Daniel  seemed  perhaps  the  more 
promising  ;  at  any  rate,  his  obvious  lack  of  adaptation 
to  the  life  of  the  farmer  pointed  him  out  as  the  natural 
recipient  of  a  paternal  encouragement  which  could  not 
be  stretched  to  cover  both. 

In  July,  1795,  the  father  gave  to  Daniel  his  first 
intimation  of  the  special  opportunities  that  were  to 
be  offered  him.  The  circumstances  attending  the 
incident  left  an  impression  which  never  faded  from 
Webster's  memory.  It  was  a  hot  July  day  and  the 
boy  was  in  the  field  with  his  father,  giving  such  assist 
ance  as  he  could  in  the  haying.  "  About  the  middle 
of  the  forenoon,"  he  records,  "the  Honorable  Abiel 
Foster,  M.  C. ,  who  lived  in  Canterbury,  six  miles  off, 
called  at  the  house,  and  came  into  the  field  to  see  my 
father.  He  was  a  worthy  man,  college-learned,  and 
had  been  a  minister,  but  was  not  a  person  of  any  con 
siderable  natural  power.  My  father  was  his  friend  and 
supporter.  He  talked  awhile  in  the  field,  and  went  on 
his  way.  When  he  was  gone,  my  father  called  me  to 
him,  and  we  sat  down  beneath  the  elm,  on  a  haycock. 
He  said,  '  My  son,  that  is  a  worthy  man  j  he  is  a 


30  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

member  of  CoDgress  ;  he  goes  to  Philadelphia  and  gets 
six  dollars  a  day,  while  I  toil  here.  It  is  because  he 
had  an  education,  which  I  never  had.  If  I  had  ha<  1 
his  early  education,  I  should  have  been  in  Philadelphi  i 
in  his  place.  I  came  near  it  as  it  was.  But  I  missed 
it,  and  now  I  must  work  here.'  '  My  dear  father,'  said 
I,  l  you  shall  not  work.  Brother  and  I  will  work  fo •• 
you,  and  will  wear  our  hands  out,  and  you  shall  rest. ' 
And  I  remember  to  have  cried,  and  I  cry  now  at  th  3 
recollection.  l  My  child,'  said  he,  l  it  is  of  no  impoi- 
tance  to  me.  I  now  live  but  for  my  children.  I  could 
not  give  your  elder  brothers  the  advantages  of  know) 
edge,  but  I  can  do  something  for  you.  Exert  your 
self,  improve  your  opportunities,  learn,  learn,  and, 
when  I  am  gone,  you  will  not  need  to  go  through  the 
hardships  which  I  have  undergone,  and  which  have 
made  me  an  old  man  before  my  time."  l 

The  precise  purport  of  this  admonition  did  not  ap 
pear  until  some  months  later.  In  1781  — the  year  before; 
Daniel's  birth — there  had  been  established  at  Exeter  an 
institution  of  learning  modeled  on  the  higher-grade 
English  schools  of  the  time,  aud  known,  from  the  name 
of  its  benefactor,  the  Honorable  John  Phillips,  as  the 
Phillips^  Exeter  Academy.  In  the  spring  of  1796  the 
elder  Webster  disclosed  to  his  son  his  purpose  to  place 
him  in  this  far-famed  school,  and,  May  26th,  the  two 
made  the  trip  together  on  horseback  to  Exeter,  where 
the  necessary  arrangements  were  concluded  with  the 
principal  of  the  school,  Dr.  Benjamin  Abbott.  Daniel 
was  at  the  time  but  fourteen  years  of  age.  Never 
before,  except  for  a  few  days  at  a  time,  had  he  been 
away  from  home,  and  in  his  new  surroundings  he  was 

1  Webster  to  Blatchford,  May  3,  1846.     Webster,  "  Private  Coi 
li-spondence,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  228-229. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  31 

at  first  somewhat  overpowered.  His  home-made 
clothes  and  his  rustic  manners  subjected  him.  to  a 
certain  amount  of  ridicule  on  the  part  of  his  more 
fashionable  associates,  and  there  were  recurring  attacks' 
of  homesickness.  Application  to  his  studies,  however, 
and  the  commendation  of  his  teachers  enabled  him  in 
time  to  overcome  these  difficulties.  During  the  session 
from  May  to  October  he  mastered  the  rudiments  of 
English  grammar  and  made  substantial  progress  in 
writing  and  arithmetic  ;  and  after  a  brief  autumn  vaca- 
tiouTspent  at  home,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  more 
advanced  subjects.  In  Latin  grammar  he  fell  under 
the  tutelage  of  Joseph  Stevens  Buckmiuster,  an  older 
student  of  the  academy  who  in  1796  was  giving  in 
struction  during  the  illness  of  Dr.  Abbott.  Other 
teachers  of  this  period  whom  Webster  in  subsequent 
days  recalled  with  gratitude  were  a  Mr.  Thacher  and 
a  Mr.  Emery,  both  of  whom  turned  eventually  to  law 
and  attained  some  eminence  in  the  profession. 

In  one  respect  only  was  the  boy's  career  at  Exeter 
unsatisfactory  to  himself  and  to  his  masters  :  he  never 
wasjiblejo  summpn  up  tjhe  j-equisite^ presence  of^miud 
to  deliver  a^eclamatiou,  as  every  boy  was  expected  to 
do,  inlEe^ieariug  of  his  fellow-pupils.  "  The  kind 
and  excellent  Bucknii aster  sought,  especially,"  he  tells 
us,  ' '  to  persuade  me  to  perform  the  exercise  of  declama 
tion  like  other  boys,  but  I  could  not  do  it.  Many  a 
piece  did  I  commit  to  memory,  and  recite  and  rehearse 
in  my  own  room,  over  and  over  again,  yet,  when  the 
day  came,  when  the  school  collected  to  hear  declama 
tions,  when  my  name  was  called,  and  I  saw  all  eyes 
turned  to  my  seat,  I  could  not  raise  myself  from  it. 
Sometimes  the  instructors  frowned,  sometimes  they 
smiled.  Mr.  Buckminster  always  pressed  and  en- 


32  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

treated,  most  wiuniugly,  that  I  would  venture,  but  I 
could  never  command  sufficient  resolution.  When  the 
occasion  was  over,  I  went  home  and  wept  bitter  tears 
of  mortification."1  Prom  the  timid  Exeter  school 
boy  to  the  confident  and  peerless  orator  of  the  Plym 
outh  and  Bunker  Hill  commemorations,  or  of  the 
Seventh  of  March,  was  a  transition  of  tremendous 
magnitude.  Although  Webster  himself  nowhere  gives 
us  any  light  upon  the  point,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose, 
as  does  his  principal  biographer,  that  the  deficiency  of 
,the  schoolboy  arose  from  conditions  of  mental  sensitive- 
,  ness  and  physical  frailty  which  in  time  completely  dis 
appeared.2  At  any  rate,  under  more  favorable  circum 
stances,  at  college  and  in  his  profession,  the  difficulty 
seems  never  to  have  recurred. 

After  nine  mouths  at  the  academy  there  came  another 
change.  In  February,  1 797,  it  was  arranged  that  Daniel 
should  be  placed  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Keverend 
Samuel  "JVood,  a  minister  of  the  adjoining  town  of 
Boscaweu,  but  six  miles  distant  from  the  Webster 
homestead.  ^It  was  now  the  purpose  of  Judge  "Webster 
to  send  the  boy  to  college,  and  Dr.  Wood,  strongly 
impressed  by  the  lad's  ability,  had  volunteered  to  fit 
him  for  admission,  making  a  charge  therefor,  cover 
ing  lodging,  board,  and  instruction,  of  one  dollar  a 
week.  On  the  road  to  Boscaweu  the  father  disclosed 
to  the  boy  his  ultimate  intention.  ''The  very  idea," 
wrote  Webster  long  after,  "  thrilled  my  whole  frame. 
He  said  he  then  lived  but  for  his  children,  and  if  I 
would  do  all  I  could  for  myself  he  would  do  what  he 
could  for  me.  I  remember  that  I  was  quite  overcome 
and  my  head  grew  dizzy.  The  thing  appeared  to  me 

1  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  9-10. 
1  Curtis,  "  Life  of  Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  21. 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH  33 

so  high,  and  the  expense  and  sacrifice  it  was  to  cost 
my  father  so  great,  I  could  only  press  his  hands  and 
shed  tears.  Excellent,  excellent  parent !  I  cannot 
think  of  him,  even  now,  without  turning  child  again."  l 
With  Dr.  Wood  the  boy  continued  his  studies  dur 
ing  a  period  of  approximately  six  months.  He  read 
Virgil  and  Cicero,  conceiving,  as  he  tells  us,  "  a  pleas 
ure  in  the  study  of  them,  especially  the  latter,  which 
rendered  application  no  longer  a  task. ' '  When  haying- 
time  came  round  he  was  called  home  for  a  time  by  his 
father,  but  his  indifferent  application  to  the  prosaic 
tasks  of  the  farm  only  confirmed  the  conviction  that 
he  must  be  prepared  for  some  occupation  that  would 
not  involve  manual  labor.  He  was  therefore  returned 
without  delay  to  the  tutelage  of  Dr.  Wood,  and  to  the 
end  that  he  might  obtain  the  necessary  preparation  in 
»the  Greek  grammar  for  an  early  entrance  to  college,  a 
Dartmouth  senior  by  the  name  of  Palmer  was  called  in 
to  give  him  special  instruction  in  that  branch.  Dr. 
Wood  was  not  an  exceptional  scholar  or  teacher,  but 
during  a  pastorate  covering  upward  of  fifty  years  he 
taught  in  his  own  house,  sometimes  without  hope  of 
pecuniary  reward,  no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
boys,  most  of  whom  went  to  college,  and  several  of 
whom,  like  Webster,  attained  rare  distinction  in  sub 
sequent  professional  life.  It  was  service  of  this  nature, 
hardly  less  than  the  more  immediate  ministrations  of 
religion,  that  gave  the  New  England  minister  of  a  hun 
dred  years  ago  his  remarkable  hold  upon  the  life  and 
thought  of  his  times. 

In  midsummer  of  1797  Dr.  Wood  announced  to  his 
youthful  pupil  that  he  might  consider  himself  prepared 
for  college.     His  attainments  as  yet,  of  course,  were 
1  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  10. 


34  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

meagre  enough.  The  Latin,  grammar  he  knew  fairly 
well.  The  first  six  books  of  the  ^Eueid  and  Cicero's 
four  orations  against  Catiline  he  had  read.  Of  the 
Greek  grammar  he  had  an  elementary  knowledge, 
and  he  had  read,  although  with  indifferent  pro 
ficiency,  the  four  gospels  in  the  original  tongue.  Of 
mathematics  he  knew  nothing,  except  the  elementary 
arithmetic  studied  in  the  town  schools  and  at  Exeter. 
Of  geography  and  history  he  had  no  systematic 
knowledge,  although  his  reading  had'  givon  him  an 
acquaintance  with  some  phases  of  these  subjects. 
In  the  domain  of  English  literature,  while  he  had 
never  received  formal  instruction,  he  had  read  witli 
sufficient  range  and  discernment  to  be  at  least  better 
equipped  than  was  the  average  college  student  of 
the  day.  For  Greek  and  mathematics  he  had  small 
taste ;  but  for  the  Latin  classics,  English  literature, 
history,  and  politics  he  exhibited  a  decided  liking. 
As  to  his  preparation  for  college,  the  boy  seems  him 
self  to  have  cherished  some  misgivings.  His  patron's 
efforts,  however,  accomplished  their  purpose,  and  in 
August,  1797,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  Daniel  found  him 
self  a  member  of  the  freshman  class  at  Dartmouth. 
Doubtless  it  was,  as  he  himself  long  afterward  described 
it,  a  "  mere  breaking-in  "  ;  but  it  opened  a  new  and 
wonderful  field  of  opportunity. 


CHAPTER   II 

PREPARATION    FOR  THE  LAW 

WHEN  Webster  became  a  studei^atj^artmouth  the 
institution  was — as  it  still  was  twenty-one  years  later 
when  lie  summoned  all  his  po  \vers  to  its  defense  before 
the  highest  tribunal  of  the  land— a  little  college.  Its 
origin  is  to  be  traced  to  a  plan  of  the  missionary, 
John  Sergeant,  for  the  establishment  of  an  Indian  school 
at  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts.  By  reason  of  the  pre 
mature  death  of  Sergeant  the  project  upon  which  he 
was  bent  was  delayed,  but  it  was  taken  up  by  Dr. 
Eleazer  Wheelock,  of  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  and 
broadened  to  comprehend  the  founding  of  an  institution 
of  higher  learning  for  both  Indians  and  whites. 
Funds  were  collected  in  England  and  America  and  a 
site,  offered  by  Governor  Thomas  Wentworth  and  other 
citizens  of  New  Hampshire,  was  accepted,  consisting 
of  the  township  of  Hanover,  on  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Connecticut.  In  1770  the  college,  bearing  the  name 
of  an  English  patron,  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  and 
endowed  with  upward  of  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  opened  its  doors, 
under  the  management  of  President  Wheelock  and  a 
self- perpetuating  board  of  twelve  trustees.  A  class  of 
four  was  graduated  in  1771. 

By  1797  there  were  upward  of  two  hundred  students 
in  the  college,  and  the  number  of  graduates  from  year 
to  year  was  surpassed  at  only  one  other  institution  in 
the  country.  The  quality  of  instruction  was  excellent, 


36  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

although  the  range  was  of  necessity  restricted.  As  a 
freshmau  young  Webster  merely  went  on  with  the 
reading  of  the  ^Eneid^  and  of  the  Greek  New  Testa 
ment.  In  the  sophomore  year  there  was  more  of  the 
same  sort  of  thing,  with  excursions  into  arithmetic  and 
algebra.  Of  new  subjects  to  be  studied  there  were 
pracHcally  none.  And,  recalling  the  dislike  which 
Webster  cherished  for  mathematics,  and  his  compara 
tive  indifference  to  Greek,  it  is  easy  enough  to  under 
stand  the  conclusion  at  which  apparently  he  in  time 
arrived,  namely,  that  the  academic  routine  with  which 
most  of  his  companions  were  content  was  ill -considered 
and  insufficient.  That  during  his  earlier  years  at  the 
college  he  ever  got  so  far  as  definitely  to  formulate  this 
revolutionary  doctrine  does  not  appear.  What  he  did 
was  simply  to  attend__wilh_faii'^diligence  to  the  tasks 
which  his  instructors  imposed,  employing  the  remain - 
derp£J^is  time  in  more  congenial  pursuits,  especially 
in  extending  his  knowledge  of  English  literature,  phi 
losophy,  and  modern  history.  There  was  still  the  pas- 
siorTTor  poetry,  and  ~hoT  "merely  for  the  reading  and 
memorizing  of  it,  but  for  writing  it.  Some  of  the 
effusions  of  this  period,  for  which  the  author  in  later 
years  expressed  a  profound  contempt,  survive,  among 
them  verses  addressed  to  George  Herbert,  an  intimate 
college  friend,  when  Webster  was  on  the  point  of  re 
turning  to  Salisbury  for  the  winter  vacation  of  1798- 
1799.1  They  exhibit  sophornoric  flamboyancy,  and  yet 
are  by  no  means  lacking  in  delicacy  of  sentiment  and 
felicity  of  expression.  The  consequence  of  the  youth's 
somewhat  independent  apportionment  of  his  time  was 
that,  while  he  was  recognized  as  a  student  who  could 
be  depended  upon  absolutely  to  come  up  to  the  mark 
1  Webeter,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  71-72. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  37 

with  his  required  exercises,  he  did  not  attain  great  dis 
tinction  in  his  academic  subjects.  At  the  sophomore 
"  exhibition"  in  1799  neither  of  the  two  principal 
appointments  conferred  by  the  faculty  fell  to  him. 
Measured  solely  by  those  standards  according  to  which 
academic  honors  were  then,  and  have  often  been  since, 
bestowed,  Daniel's  college  career  was,  indeed,  con 
siderably  less  brilliant  than  was  that,  subsequently,  of 
his  brother  Ezekiel. 

The  credit,  however,  for  Ezekiel's  attainments  rests 
in  no  small  degree  with  the  younger,  and  on  the  whole 
the  more  capable,  brother.  When  Ebeuezer  Webster, 
in  the  teeth  of  financial  embarrassment  and  approach 
ing  old  age,  formulated  his  plan  for  the  education  of 
Daniel  it  was  his  purpose  that  Ezekiel,  vastly  superior 
in  physical  strength  and  accounted  of  no  special  prom 
ise  intellectually,  should  remain  on  the  farm,  gradually^ 
to  take  over  the  heavier  labor  that  was  to  be  per 
formed  and,  eventually,  the  care  of  the  surviving  mem 
bers  of  the  household.  In  this  disposition  of  his  future 
Ezekiel  uncomplainingly  acquiesced.  To  the  sensitive 
mind  of  Daniel,  however,  the  arrangement  brought 
sore  misgiving.  Never  were  brothers  more  sympa 
thetic  and  more  inseparable  than  Daniel  and  Ezekiel ; 
and  that,  by  reason  of  his  precarious  health  and  greater 
boyishness,  he  had  been  shielded  and  humored  in 
countless  ways  by  his  large-hearted  brother,  Daniel 
was  much  too  honorable  to  fail  to  recognize.  The  re 
lations  sustained  between  the  two  are  well  illustrated 
by  a  little  anecdote  which,  whether  or  not  based  upon 
actual  fact,  was  long  current  in  New  England.  The 
two  boys,  as  the  story  runs,  were  once  provided  with 
a  little  pocket  money  and  permitted  to  attend  a  country 
fair.  When  they  returned  in  the  evening  Daniel  was 


38  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

enthusiastic,  Ezekiel  rather  non-committal.  "Whal 
did  you  do  with  your  money  I"  Daniel  was  asked 
4 '  Spent  it, ' '  was  the  exul tan  t  answer.  i  '  And,  Ezekiel 
what  did  you  do  with  yours?  "  The  reply  came  witl 
an  air  of  resignation  :  "  Lent  it  to  Daniel." 

When,  in  May,  1799,  the  young  sophomore  returnee: 
to  the  old  homestead  for  the  spring  vacation,  he  found 
Ezekiel  visibly  depressed  by  his  apparently  unpromis 
ing  lot.  He  had  been  thinking,  so  he  confided  to 
Daniel,  of  seeking  his  fortune  in  some  new  portion  of 
the  country,  and  had  been  deterred  only  by  the  reali 
zation  that  his  father  was  coming  to  be  more  than  ever 
in  need  of  his  help  and  that  within  perhaps  a  few  years 
he  would  be  the  sole  dependence  of  his  mother  and  his 
two  unmarried  sisters.  In  a  conference  which  lasted 
throughout  an  entire  night  the  two  boys,  the  elder  as 
yet  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  canvassed  a  problem 
which  for  older  heads  would  have  been  sufficiently 
knotty.  In  the  end  it  was  decided  that  the  idea  of 
seeking  a  fortune  in  distant  parts  should  be  abandoned, 
but  that,  instead,  Daniel  should  take  up  at  once  with 
his  father  the  question  of  arranging,  even  at  this  late 
day,  for  Ezekiel's  education,  including  eventually  a 
course  at  Dartmouth.  Both  recognized  that  such  a 
project  would  come  as  a  shock  to  the  other  members 
of  the  family,  particularly  as  the  father  was  growing- 
old,  his  health  was  not  good,  and  his  circumstances 
were  far  from  easy.  None  the  less,  on  the  morrow 
Daniel  broached  the  plan  and  supported  it  with  argu 
ments  which  enabled  him  to  carry  the  day.  He  prom 
ised  to  "keep  school"  himself,  if  need  should  arise, 
and  thus  to  take  more  than  the  allotted  four  years  to 
complete  his  own  course  at  Hanover,  if  only  Ezekiel 
might  be  given  an  opportunity  such  as  that  which  he 


PEEPAEATION  FOE  THE  LAW  39 

was  himself  enjoying.  The  father  "said  at  once," 
"Webster  records,  "he  lived  but  for  his  children  ;  that 
he  had  but  little,  and  on  that  little  he  put  no  value, 
except  so  far  as  it  might  be  useful  to  them.  That  to 
carry  us  both  through  college  would  take  all  he  was 
worth  ;  that,  for  himself,  he  was  willing  to  run  the 
risk  ;  but  that  this  was  a  serious  matter  to  our  mother 
and  two  unmarried  sisters  ;  that  we  must  settle  the 
matter  with  them,  and,  if  their  consent  was  obtained, 
he  would  trust  to  Providence,  and  get  along  as  well  as 
he  could.'7  1 

In  a  family  council  which  Webster  feelingly  de 
scribed  in  his  old  age  the  mother  affirmed  her  willing 
ness  even  that  the  farm,  already  under  mortgage  for 
Daniel's  education,  should  be  sold,  if  need  be,  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  two  boys.  To  such  lengths  it 
proved,  fortunately,  not  necessary  to  go,  but  through 
many  years  thereafter  the  shadow  of  debt  hung  heavy 
over  the  family.  For  Ezekiel  the  road  to  be  traversed 
was  long  and  hard.  At  the  relatively  advanced  age  of 
nineteen,  and  after  having  given  several  years  exclu 
sively  to  the  labor  of  the  farm,  he  had  to  begin  with 
those  elementary  studies  which  the  younger  brother 
had  long  since  left  behind.  By  dint  of  resolute  ap 
plication,  however,  he  overcame  the  disadvantage. 
Two  terms  at  a  little  academy  recently  established  at 
Salisbury  were  followed  by  nine  months  of  instruction 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Wood  at  Boscawen,  and  in 
March,  1801  —  six  mouths  before  Daniel's  graduation  — 
he  entered  Dartmouth,  so  well  prepared,  and  with  such 
habits  of  industry,  that  within  a  year  he  had  taken 
rank  as  one  of  the  most  proficient  students  of  the 
college.  He  was  graduated  in  1804,  after  having 

.        .  \^ 


Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  IZ^^         \ 


40  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

been  in  residence  at  Hanover  little  more  than  three 
years. 

Eeturning  to  college  in  the  autumn  of  1799  for  his 
junior  year,  Daniel  found  himself  obliged  to  eke  out 
by  his  own  efforts  the  diminishing  funds  withwEich 
it  was  now  possible  for  his  father  to  supply  him.  By 
superintending  tke. .publication  of  a  little_weekly  news 
paper,  the  Dartmouth  Gazette,  and  making  selections 
for  it  from  books~and  current  periodicals,  he  was  able 
to  pay  his  board  and  at  the  same  time  to  indulge  his 
taste  for  literature  and  public  affairs.  "I  suppose  I 
sometimes  wrote/'  he  says,  "  a  foolish  paragraph  my 
self."  !  The  winter  vacation  of  1800  found  him  teach 
ing  a  small  school  at  Salisbury,  the  proceeds  of  which 
went  to  the  support  of  Ezekiel  during  his  months  of 
tutelage  at  Dr.  Wood's. 

The  laBt-JjEO-yeais  of  Webster's  stay  at  Dartmouth 
were  distinctly  a  period  ^of^  growth  in  mental  power 
and  of  broadening  grasp  uponthosethiugs  thaTinake 
for  success  in  professional  life.  With  scrupulous 
fidelity,  although  in  sometimes  a  rather  perfunctory 
manner,  the  subjects  which  fell  to  juniors  and  seniors 
under  the  rigid  curriculum  of  the  day  were  accorded 
their  quota  of  time  and  labor.  But  beyond  these  the 
rapidly  maturing  student  pushed  his  interests  and  in 
quiries  in  multifold  directions.  History,  especially, 
lie  read  with  voracious  zea.1,  and,  as  appears  from  a  few 
of  his  letters  which  have  survived  from  these  years,  the 
politics  of  the  day,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  received 
his"continued  attention.  At  home  the  times  were  full 
of  interest.  In  the  election  of  1800  federalism,  under 
whose  aegis  Webster  had  been  reared,  went  down  to 
defeat,  and  in  1801  there  was  being  established  that 
1  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  11. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  41 

Jeffersonian  regime  which  some  of  the  young  student's 
friends  and  companions  regarded  as  a  curious  experi 
ment,  others  as  a  curse  that  had  fallen  upon  the  land 
by  reason  of  the  iniquities  of  the  people,  but  few  if  any 
as  a  natural  or  desirable  refreshing  of  the  body  politic. 
Abroad,  affairs  were  still  more  stirring.  "  Who  would 
have  thought  six  months  ago,"  wrote  Webster,  Feb 
ruary  5,  1800,  to  a  former  Exeter  comrade,  James  H. 
Biugham,  "  that  Bonaparte,  who  was  then  represented 
as  lying  with  his  slaughtered  army  on  the  plains  of 
Egypt,  to  taint  the  air  and  gorge  the  monsters  of  the 
Nile,  would  at  this  time  have  returned  to  France,  have 
destroyed  the  Directory  and  Legislative  Councils,  have 
established  a  triumvirate,  and  have  placed  himself  at 
its  head — which  is  saying,  have  virtually  made  himself 
sovereign  of  France  ?  Who  could  have  predicted  that 
the  Duke  of  York,  who  so  late  was  marching  victori 
ously  through  Holland,  should  ere  this  time  have 
entered  into  a  convention,  by  which  he  was  to  give  up 
all  his  booty  and  prisoners  and  evacuate  the  country  ? 
Or,  who  ever  supposed  that  Paul,  emperor  of  Russia, 
who  so  lately  was  raising  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  men  to  reinforce  his  armies,  should  now  order 
Suwarrow,  with  his  veteran  Cossacks,  to  quit  the  field 
and  return  home!  The  occurrences  hitherto  would 
have  warranted  the  most  extravagant  expectations  ; 
but  these  events  must  have  been,  I  think,  unprepared 
for.  What  unknown  cause  has  wrought  these  changes  ? 
I  cannot  determine.  I  am  weary  of  conjecture."  l 

The  letter  just  quoted  is  of  further  interest  by  rea 
son  of  the  comments  contained  in  it  upon  the  perils  by 
which  the  writer  believed  his  own  country  to  be  beset. 

1  Webster  to  Bingham.  February  5,  1800.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  78. 


42  DAXIEL  WEBSTER 

"  Wheii  baffled  in  attempting  to  scan  the  horizon  o:.' 
European  politics,  could  I  turn  my  eyes  home  and  be 
presented  with  such  a  prospect  as  was  afforded  five 
years  ago,  I  should  lift  my  heart  to  heaven  in  a  trans 
port  of  devotion,  and  exclaim,  '  Let  France  or  Eiig 
land  be  arbiter  of  Europe,  but  be  mine  the  privileges 
of  an  American  citizen.'  But,  Hervey,  our  prospeci 
darkens  ;  clouds  hang  around  us.  Xot  that  I  fear  tin 
menaces  of  France  ;  not  that  I  should  fear  all  the  pow 
ers  of  Europe  leagued  together  for  our  destruction, 
No,  Biughani,  intestine  feuds  alone  I  fear.  The 
French  faction,  though  quelled,  is  not  eradicated  ;  the 
southern  states  in  commotion  ;  a  Democrat  the  head 
of  the  Executive  in  Virginia  ;  a  whole  county  in 
arms  against  the  government  of  McKean,  in  Pennsyl 
vania;  Washington,  the  great  political  cement  dead, 
and  Adams  almost  worn  down  with  years,  and  the 
weight  of  cares.  These  considerations,  operating  on 
a  mind  naturally  timorous,  excite  unpleasant  emo 
tions.  In  my  melancholy  moments,  I  presage  the  most 
dire  calamities.  I  already  see,  in  my  imagination,  the 
time  when  the  banner  of  civil  war  shall  be  unfurled  ; 
when  Discord's  hydra  form  shall  set  up  her  hideous 
yell,  and  from  her  hundred  mouths  shall  howl  destruc 
tion  through  our  empire  ;  and  when  American  blood 
shall  be  made  to  flow  in  rivers,  by  American  swords  ! 
But  propitious  heaven  prevent  such  dreadful  calam 
ities  !  .  .  .  Heaven  grant  that  the  bonds  of  our 
federal  union  may  be  strengthened  ;  that  Gallic  emis 
saries  and  Gallic  principles  may  be  spurned  from  our 
land  ;  that  traitors  may  be  abashed,  and  that  the  stars 
and  stripes  of  United  Columbia  may  wave  trium 
phant."  ' 
1  Webster  to  James  H.  Bingham,  February  5,  1800.  Loc.  tit. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  43 

In  these  sentences  there  is,  of  course,  much  sheer 
bombast  and  a  good  deal  of  partisan  prejudice.  But 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  were  penned  by 
a  college  junior  who  had  arrived  at  the  stage  of  de 
velopment  where  one  is  likely  to  be  too  proud  of  one's 
rhetoric  to  be  able  to  keep  it  wholly  within  bounds. 
Between  the  effectiveness  of  the  passages  that  have 
been  quoted  and  that  of  the  peroration  of  the  second 
Reply  to  Hayue  there  is  no  apparent  possibility  of 
comparison.  Yet  the  superiority  of  the  later  effort 
arises  not  so  much  from,  the  sentiments  contained  in  it 
as  from  the  simple  and  restrained  language  in  which 
they  are  expressed.  The  statesman  of  1830  cherished 
an  attachment  for  the  Union  hardly  more  fervid  than 
that  which  stirred  the  heart  of  the  schoolboy  of  1800. 

It  was  during  his  jujiior_year  at  Dartmouth  that 
Webster  first  acquired  proficiency in  jmblic  speaking. 
A  society,  * '  TheJJni ted  Frater uity ,  • '  of  which  he  be- 
carn^  a  member~affordedr^bundant  opportunity  for 
practice,  and  gradually  the  shyness  which  had  ren 
dered  his  days  at  Exeter  a  torment  completely  disap 
peared.  By  the  beginnin£_o^_the^nipr__year  Qo^one 
in  the  college  was  regarded  as  his  equal_mjiebate^  or 
set  oration,.  It  was  now  that  his  enormous  reading  and 
his  prodigious  memory  began  to  tell  to  his  advantage. 
At  a  moment's  notice  he  was  able  to  call  up  from  the 
depths  of  his  mental  storehouse  a  wealth  of  fact  and 
allusion,  with  which  nothing  short  of  his  long-con 
tinued,  painstaking  reading  could  have  equipped  him. 
His  own  testimony  on  the  point  is  interesting.  "So 
much  as  I  read,  I  made  my  own.  When  a  half-hour, 
or  an  hour  at  most,  had  elapsed,  I  closed  my  book, 
and  thought  over  what  I  had  read.  If  there  was  any 
thing  peculiarly  interesting  or  striking  in  the  passage, 


44  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

I  endeavored  to  recall  it  and  lay  it  up  in  my  memory, 
aud  commonly  could  effect  my  object.  Then  if,  in 
debate  or  conversation  afterward,  any  subject  came  up 
on  which  I  had  read  something,  I  could  talk  very 
easily  so  far  as  I  had  read,  and  there  I  was  very  care 
ful  to  stop."  l 

Three  only  of  the  orations  which  Webster  delivered 
during  his  days  at  college  have  been  preserved.  That 
the  young  man  had  achieved  fame  locally  as  a  public 
speaker  is  sufficiently  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
he  was  invited  by  the  townspeople  of  Hanover  to  make 
the  principal  address  at  the  Fourth  of  July  celebration 
in  1800.  The  character  of  this  effort  was  in  part 
predetermined,  of  course,  by  the  nature  of  the  occasion. 
In  the  speech  the  eighteen-year-old  orator  rehearsed 
the  more  exhilarating  aspects  of  the  Revolution,  paid 
lofty  tribute  to  Washington  and  other  Revolutionary 
leaders,  and  praised  the  new  order  which  had  been 
ushered  in  under  the  Constitution.  The  tone  was  pro 
nouncedly  Federalist,  but  few  if  any  of  the  auditors 
were  likely  to  take  offense  thereat.  The  style,  while 
simple  and  more  direct  than  had  been  usual  in  eight 
eenth  century  oratory,  was  still  florid,  and  at  times 
labored.  The  thought  was,  in  large  part,  solid.  The 
burden  of  the  argument — the"  necessity  of  the  Union, 
the  meuace  of  civil  discord,  the  efficacy  of  the  Consti 
tution  as  the  bulwark  of  the  nation — was  precisely  that 
which  it  was  to  be  the  lot  of  Webster  to  bear  before 
(  his  countrymen  iu  countless  oratorical  appeals  through 
upward  of  two  succeeding  generations.2  Of  the  other 
two  college  orations  which  have  survived,  one  is  a  dis- 

1  McGaw  to  Sanborn,  November  16,  1852.     Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,  *'  Vol.  I,  p.  51. 

"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp.  475-484. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  45 

course  on  "Opinion,"  delivered  before  the  United 
Fraternity  ; l  the  other,  a  eulogy  on  a  classmate, 
Ephraiin  Simouds,  who  died  in  June  of  his  senior 
year.  Both  show  some  improvement  upon  the  Han 
over  speech,  the  eulogy,  in  particular,  being,  as  Mr. 
Curtis  describes  it,  "natural,  unaffected,  full  of  feel 
ing,  and  of  a  strong  religious  faith." 

In  1801  Webster  was  graduated  with  his  class.  Al 
though  admittedly  the  best  speaker  and  the  student 
of  widest  information  in  the  college,  he  had  no  part  in 
the  commencement  exercises.  This,  as  he  tells  us,  was 
* '  owing  to  some  difficulties — h&c  non  meminisse  juvat." 
The  circumstance  reflected  at  the  time  no  discredit 
upon  the  young  graduate,  nor  indeed  upon  any  one 
concerned.  It  arose  from  the  fact  that  Webster's  rank 
in  his  academic  subjects  was  surpassed  by  that  of  a 
few  of  his  classmates  and  that  a  misunderstanding  be 
tween  the  faculty  and  the  graduating  class  with  regard 
to  commencement  parts  left  Webster  quite  without  an 
appointment.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  cher 
ished  a  grudge  by  reason  of  the  affair. 

Of  his  attainments  upon  leaving  college  Webster 
spoke  several  times  during  his  subsequent  life,  always 
with  modesty,  if  not  disparagement.  In  1802,  to  one 
who  was  complimenting  him  upon  his  scholarship  in 
college  he  protested  :  "  The  opinion  of  my  scholarship 
was  a  mistaken  one.  It  was  overestimated.  .  .  . 
Many  other  students  read  more  than  I  did  and  knew 
more  than  I  did."  In  1825  he  said  to  Mr.  Ticknor  : 
"  My  Greek  and  mathematics  were  not  great  while  I 
was  in  college,  but  I  was  better  read  in  history  and 

1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp.  494-504. 
'Curtis,    "  Webster,"    Vol.    I,    p.    40.     For    the    speech    see 
11  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp.  487-493. 


46  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

English  generally  than  any  of  my  class,  ami  I  wasgooc 
in  composition.  My  Latin  was  pretty  strong  too.' 
And  in  1851,  in  a  letter  to  a  classmate,  Dr.  Merrill. 
he  said:  "I  believe  I  was  less  industrious;  at  aii.> 
rate,  I  indulged  more  iu  general  reading,  and  my  at 
tainments,  if  I  made  any,  were  not  such  as  told  for 
much  in  the  recitation -room.  After  leaving  college. 
I  l  caught  up,'  as  the  boys  say,  pretty  well  iu  Latin 
but  in  college,  and  afterward,  1  left  Greek  to  Lov  eland, 
and  mathematics  to  Shattuck.  Would  that  I  had  pur 
sued  Greek  till  I  could  read  and  understand  Demos 
thenes  in  his  own  language  !  "  l  |  A  taste  of  elementary 
Greek,  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  higher  forms  of 
mathematics,  a  reasonably  thorough  familiarity  with 
Latin  grammar  and  literature,  a  broad  and  discerning 
knowledge  of  history,  politics,  and  English  literature 
—such,  in  brief,  was  the  academic  equipment  jwhich 
the  aspiring  graduate  of  nineteen  was  able  to  bring  to 
the  task  of  making  his  way  in  the  world.  Other^ual- 
ilications,  however,  he  possessed  in  liberal  degree.  He 
could  write  smooth  and  forceful,  even  if  as  yet  occa 
sion  ally~extra  vacant,  English!  In  facility  in  public 
debate,  and  in  oratorical  abilities  generally,  he  had 
achieved  the  highesT distinction  possible  within  the 
sphere  to  which  he  had  thus  far  been  confined.  His 
capacity  for  work  was  prodigious,  his  memory  extra 
ordinary.  Further  than  that,  his  character  and  de 
portment  were  such  as  to  win  the  readiest  confidence. 
He'was  refined  in  his  tastes,  unimpeachable  in  morals, 
genial  in  manner,  optimistic  in  temperament,  and  pas 
sionately  patriotic.  No  one  knew  him  but  to  admire 
him,  and  when  he  went  forth  from  the  little  New 

1  Webster   to   Merrill,    January    10,    1851.     Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  II.  p.   112. 


PEEP AK AXIOMS'  FOE  THE  LAW  47 

Hampshire  college  many  of  those  who  had  observed 
his  genius  and  measured  his  character  were  ready  to 
predict  for  him  the  loftiest  distinctions  of  life. 

After  commencement  Webster  returned  to  his  father's 
house  in  Salisbury.  Not  until  now,  it  would  appear, 
was  the  choice  of  a  profession  definitely  made.  Even 
at  his  graduation,  the  young  man  himself  seems  to 
have  been  totally  undecided  as  to  the  direction  in 
which  he  should  turn.  The  father  suggested,  and 
mildly  urged,  the  study  of  law  ;  and,  without  enthu 
siasm — even  with  ill-concealed  indifference — the  son 
accepted  the  suggestion.  In_  August,  1801,  he  entered 
the  office  of  his  father's  old  friend  and  neighbor, 
Thomas  WL__Thonipson,  an  able  practitioner  and  in 
later  times  a  member  of  both  the  House  of  Eepresent- 
atives  and  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  '  '  I  have 
precipitated  myself  into  an  office, "  wrote  Webster  to 
his  friend  Biugham  a  few  months  after  graduation, 
"  with  how  much  prudence  I  do  not  now  allow  myself 
to  reflect.  I  am  not  like  you,  harassed  with  dreams, 
nor  troubled  with  any  waverings  of  inclination  j  but 
am  rather  sunken  in  indifference  and  apathy.  I  have 
read  some  since  commencement,  learned  a  little,  for 
gotten  a  good  deal,  and  should  be  glad  to  forget  much 
more."  l  In  a  later  portion  of  the  same  letter  he  con 
fesses  that  he  expects  "  to  meet  many  disappointments 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  law,"  states  that  he  has 
"  calculated  too  largely  on  the  profession,"  and 
solemnly  records  that  he  has  lately  "  engaged  a  new 
auxiliary "  to  support  him  under  mortification, 
namely,  tobacco.  To  a  Mr.  Coffin  he  writes,  a  few 
days  later  :  "  Considering  how  long  I  must  read  law, 

1  Webster  to  Bingham,  September  22,  1801.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  92. 


48  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

prospects  are  not  very  flattering,  but  perhaps  I  may 
find  room  hereafter  in  some  wilderness,  where  the 
violet  has  not  resigned  her  tenement,  to  make  writs 
without  disturbance  of  rivals,  if  there  should  be  no 
body  to  purchase.  .  .  .  Our  class  are  much  ir- 
clined  to  the  law,  but  I  believe  we  have  all  mistaken 
our  talents.  We  have  those  that  might  be  good  di 
vines,  and  perhaps  eminent  physicians.  But,  in  hoi>- 
esty,  it  is  not  my  opinion  that  any  individual  has 
brilliancy,  and  at  the  same  time  penetration  and  judg-- 
uient  enough,  for  a  great  law  character."  l 

Mr.  Thompson  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and  had 
served  for  three  years  as  a  tutor  at  that  institution. 
He  possessed  a  library  which,  as  country  lawyer's 
libraries  went  in  the  early  nineteenth  century,  was 
well  filled  and  well  selected.  It  was  Webster's  lament 
that  as  a  student  of  law  he  was  obliged  to  pore  over 
Vattel,  Montesquieu,  and  Blackstone  when  he  should 
greatly  have  preferred  Homer,  Shakespeare,  and  Mil 
ton.  And  although  he  made  substautialjDrogress  with 
his  legal  subjects,  especially  the  law  of  nations  (of 
which  one  day  he  was  to  become  an  eminent  ex 
pounder),  he  found  time  to  devour  the  "Iliad."  in 
Pope's  translation,  a  large  part  of  the  poetry  of 
Cowper,  "Paradise  Lost,"  several  of  Shakespeare's 
plays,  and  the  histories  of  Hume  and  Robertson. 
When  there  were  no  writs  to  be  copied  and  reading 
grew  wearisome,  the  woods  and  streams  tempted  him 
forth  with  dog  and  gun  and  fishing-rod. 

The  intention  had  been  that  Webster  should  con 
tinue  with  Mr.  Thompson  throughout  the  winter  of 
1801-1802.  By  mid-winter,  however,  the  state  of  the 

1  Webster  to  Coffin,  October  3,  1801.  Webster,  "  Private  Corre 
spond  enoe,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  94-95. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  49 

family  finances  became  such  that  there  was  nothing  for 
the  young  man  to  do  but  to  suspend  his  studies  and 
earn  some  money,  for  both  his  own  support  and  the 
maintenance  of  Ezekiel  at  Dartmouth.  At  this  junc 
ture  there  came,  opportunely  enough,  an  offer  of  the 

at  Fryeburg,  Maine. 


Fryeburg,  at  the  head  of  the  Saco  River  and  near  the 
New  Hampshire  line,  was  a  comparatively  new  settle 
ment,  but  it  was  growing  rapidly,  and  even  if  Webster 
had  been  in  a  position  to  select  the  scene  of  his  labors 
he  should  probably  have  adjudged  the  town  by  no 
means  an  unattractive  place.  As  it  was,  he  grasped 
the  opportunity  without  delay,  and  the  middle  of  Janu 
ary  found  him  once  more  in  the  schoolmaster^  _chair, 
on  a  contract  for  six  months'  service  at  a  salary  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars.  To  the  end  that  he 
might  save  his  entire  earnings  he  forthwith  entered 
into  a  self-  sacrificing  arrangement  with  the  register  of 
deeds  for  the  county  of  Oxford,  Mr.  James  Osgood, 
with  whose  family  he  lived  and  boarded.  "  The  fee," 
he  tells  us,  "  for  recording  at  full  length  a  common 
deed,  in  a  large  fair  hand,  and  with  the  care  requisite 
to  avoid  errors,  was  two  shillings  and  threepence. 
Mr.  Osgood  proposed  to  me  that  I  should  do  this 
writing,  and  that  of  the  two  shillings  and  threepence 
for  each  deed  I  should  have  one  shilling  and  sixpence. 
I  greedily  seized  upon  so  tempting  an  offer,  and  set  to 
work.  On  a  long  winter's  evening  I  could  copy  two 
deeds,  and  that  was  half  a  dollar.  Four  evenings  in  a 
week  earned  two  dollars  ;  and  two  dollars  a  week  paid 
my  board.  This  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  very  thriving 
condition.  .  .  .  But  the  ache  is  not  yet  out  of  my 
fingers,  for  nothing  has  ever  been  so  laborious  to  me  as 
writing,  when  under  the  necessity  of  writing  a  good 


50  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

band."  '  To  a  young  man  who  loved  reading,  social 
converse,  and  recreation  as  did  Webster,  all  this  mean: 
drudgery  of  the  dreariest  sort.  A  further  passage  in 
the  autobiography  lays  bare  the  motive  :  "In  May  oc 
this  year  (1802),  having  a  week's  vacation,  I  took  my 
quarter's  salary,  mounted  a  horse,  went  straight  over 
all  the  hills  to  Hanover,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  put 
ting  these,  the  first  earnings  of  my  life,  into  my 
brother's  hands  for  his  college  expenses.  Having  en 
joyed  this  sincere  and  high  pleasure,  I  hied  me  back 
again  to  my  school  and  my  copying  of  deeds."  2 

Continued.^Qutlays  in  JEzejkieP^eJialf  left  Daniel  in 
a  chronic  state  of  dire  poverty.  "  You  will  naturally 
iuquire,^'~¥e~^Tites~To^5rr7  Fuller  toward  the  end  of 
his  stay  at  Fryeburg,  "  how  I  prosper  in  the  article  of 
cash ;  finely !  finely  !  I  came  here  in  January  with  a 
horse  and  watch,  etc.,  and  a  few  '  rascally  counters ' 
in  my  pocket.  Was  soon  obliged  to  sell  my  horse  and 
live  on  the  proceeds.  Still  straitened  for  cash,  I  sold 
my  watch,  and  made  a  shift  to  get  home,  where  my 
friends  supplied  me  with  another  horse  and  another 
watch.  My  horse  is  sold  again,  and  my  watch  goes  I 
expect  this  week  ;  thus  you  see  how  I  lay  up  cash."  s 
Ezekiel's  needs  were  no  greater  than  Daniel's  had 
been,  but  through  reiterated  supplications  they  were 
made  to  appear  insatiable.  "Now,  Zeke,  you  will 
not  read  half  a  sentence,"  so  runs  a  note  written  from 
Salisbury,  November  4,  1802,  "no,  not  one  syllable, 
before  you  have  thoroughly  searched  this  sheet  for 
scrip  ;  but,  my  word  for  it,  you  will  find  no  scrip  here  ! 

1  Autobiography.      Webster,    "  Private   Correspondence  "  Vol 
I,  p.  13. 
•  Ibid.,  p.  14. 
1  Webster  to  Fuller,  August  29,  1802.     Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  122. 


PBEPAKATION  FOB  THE  LAW  51 

"We  held  a  sanhedrim  this  morning  on  the  subject  of 
cash,  could  not  hit  upon  any  way  to  get  you  any  ;  just 
before  we  went  away  to  hang  ourselves  through  dis 
appointment,  it  came  into  our  heads  that  next  week 
might  do.  ...  I  have  now  by  me  two  cents  in 
lawful  federal  currency  ;  next  week  I  will  send  them, 
if  they  be  all ;  they  will  buy  a  pipe  ;  with  a  pipe  you 
can  smoke ;  smoking  inspires  wisdom  ;  wisdom  is 
allied  to  fortitude  ;  from  fortitude  it  is  but  one  step  to 
stoicism  ;  and  stoicism  never  pants  for  this  world's 
goods  ;  so  perhaps  my  two  cents,  by  this  process,  may 
put  you  quite  at  ease  about  cash." l  "  Money,  Daniel, 
money,"  was  the  appeal  that  came  from  Hanover  four 
days  later.  "As  I  was  walking  down  to  the  office 
after  a  letter,  I  happened  to  find  one  cent,  which  is  the 
only  money  I  have  had  since  the  second  day  after  I 
came  on.  It  is  a  fact,  Dan,  that  I  was  called  on  since 
for  a  dollar  where  I  owed  it,  and  borrowed  it,  and 
have  borrowed  it  four  times  since  to  pay  those  I 
borrowed  of."  2 

After  some  weeks  a  new  and  perplexing  problem 
was  presented.  As_a .^  schoolniaster  Webster  was 
eminently_s_uccessful.  His  pupils  were  devotedTo  him, 
and  the  townspeople  of  Fryeburg  besoughTThini  to  re 
main  in  their  midst.  He  was  offered  a  salary  of  five 
or  six  hundred  dollars  if  he  would  consent  to  retain 
the  preceptorship,  and  as  an  additional  perquisite  the 
clerkship  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  for  the  county 
of  Oxford  was  placed  at  his  disposal.  Could  he  expect 
to  attain  even  this  measure  of  success  as  a  lawyer  ?  At 
times  he  doubted  it.  "  What  shall  I  do?"  he  writes 

Daniel    to    Ezekiel    Webster,    November  4,  1802.    Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  122-123. 
'Ezekiel  to  Daniel  Webster,  November  6,  1802.  Ibid.,  p.  124. 


62  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

to  Binghain  shortly  after  the  trip  to  Hanover.  "  Shall 
I  say,  *  Yes,  gentlemen, '  and  sit  down  here  to  speuc 
my  days  in  a  kind  of  comfortable  privacy,  or  shall  1 
relinquish  these  prospects,  and  enter  into  a  profession, 
where  my  feelings  will  be  constantly  harrowed  b> 
objects  either  of  dishonesty  or  misfortune  ;  where  my 
living  must  be  squeezed  from  penury  (for  rich  folkt 
seldom  go  to  law),  and  my  moral  principle  continual!} 
be  at  hazard  ?  I  agree  with  you  that  the  law  is  well 
calculated  to  draw  forth  the  powers  of  the  mind,  bul 
what  are  its  effects  on  the  heart  f  Are  they  equally 
propitious  ?  Does  it  inspire  benevolence,  and  awake 
tenderness ;  or  does  it,  by  a  frequent  repetition  of 
wretched  objects,  blunt  sensibility,  and  stifle  the  still 
small  voice  of  mercy?"1  After  enumerating  the 
inducements  that  still  drew  him  toward  the  law — his 
father's  wishes,  his  friends'  advice,  and  Mr.  Thomp 
son's  offer  of  tuition  gratis  and  eventually  of  his 
clientage — he  concludes  :  "On  the  whole,  I  shall  make 
one  more  trial  in  the  ensuing  autumn.  Tf  I  prosecute 
the  profession,  I  pray  God  to  fortify  me  against  its 
temptations.  To  the  winds  I  dismiss  those  light  hopes 
of  eminence  which  ambition  inspired,  and  vanity 
fostered.  To  be  'honest,  to  be  capable,  to  be  faithful ' 
to  my  client  and  my  conscience,  I  earnestly  hope  will 
be  my  first  endeavor. "  * 

In  September,  1802^  after  nine  months  of  service  at 
Fryeburg,    Webster    was    back    in    Mr.   Thompson's 
office  at  Salisbury,  where  he  remaiiieTT  unTil  the  early 
spring  of  1804.     Even  daring  the  busy  weeks  at  Frye 
burg  he  had  contrived  to  continue  to  some  extent  both 

'Webster   to   Bingham,  May  18,  1802.     Webster,  ''  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  110-111. 
,  p.  111. 


PREPARATION  FOB  THE  LAW  53 

his  legal  and  his  general  reading.  He  was  much  too 
poor  to  purchase  Blackstone,  but  he  borrowed  a  set  of 
the  Commentaries  and  waded  through  two  or  three  of 
the  portly  volumes.  From  a  circulating  library  he 
obtained  Adams's  "  Defense  of  the  American  Constitu 
tions,"  Goldsmith's  "History  of  England,"  Mosheim's 
"  Ecclesiastical  History,'7  "The  Spectator,"  "The 
Tatler,"  Pope's  poetical  works,  and  various  other 
books,  all  of  which  were  perused  with  unflagging  inter 
est.  Here,  also,  there  had  fallen  into  his  hands  Fisher 
Ames's  memorable  speech  on  the  Jay  Treaty,  which  he 
not  only  read  but  memorized.  During  the  year  and  a 
half  spent  at  Salisbury  after  the  sojourn  at  Fryeburg 
his  reading  was  confined  more  continuously  to  the  law. 
Hume,  however,  he  reread,  and  as  much  time  as  could 
be  spared  was  devoted  to  the  Latin  classics — Cicero, 
Horace,  Csesar,  Sallust,  and  Juvenal.  Long  extracts 
from  Cicero  were  committed  to  memory,  and  some  of 
the  odes  of  Horace  were  converted  into  English  rhymes. 
"  If  one  can  keep  up  an  acquaintance  with  general 
literature  in  the  meantime,  the  law  may  help  to 
invigorate  and  unfold  the  powers  of  the  mind."  Such 
was  the  highest  praise  which,  as  late  as  1803,  he  could 
find  it  within  him  to  bestow  upon  his  adopted  pro 
fession. 

(  That  the  lofty  ideals  which  weighed  so  heavily  with 
Webster  during  these  maturing  years  should  have 
created  within  him  a  desire  to  attain,  not  necessarily  a 
higher  rank,  but  a  higher  efficiency,  in  his  profession 
than  had  been  commonly  aimed  at  by  men  in  his  cir 
cumstances,  was  inevitable.  In  his  letters  he  begins 
to  speak  of  a  "rational  and  necessary  ambition,"  and 
to  exhibit  ill-concealed  impatience  with  the  straight 
ened  conditions  amidst  which  his  lot  had  thus  far  been 


54  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

cast.  An  idea  that  caine  to  him  again  and  again  was 
that  of  going  to  Boston  for  the  completion  of  his  legal 
studies.  "I  believe,"  he  writes  in  1803,  " that  sonic 
acquaintance  in  the  capital  of  New  Eugland  would  be 
very  useful  to  us  who  expect  to  plant  ourselves  down 
as  country  lawyers.  But  I  cannot  control  my  fortune  ; 
I  must  follow  wherever  circumstances  lead.  My  going 
to  Boston  is  therefore  much  more  a  matter  of  hope 
than  of  probability  ;  unless  something  like  a  miracle 
puts  the  means  in  my  hands,  I  shall  not  budge  from 
here  very  soon. "  l 

For  the  realization  of  this  dream  the  way  was 
opened  much  more  speedily  than  the  ambitious  stu 
dent  had  dared  hope.  In  the  early  weeks  of  1804  Daniel 
and  Ezekiel  came  to  a  realization  that  one  or  the  other 
would  be  obliged  to  turn  at  once  to  something  that 
would  yield  a  little  revenue  ;  "  for,"  so  the  autobiog 
raphy  informs  us,  "we  were  getting  to  be  heinously 
unprovided."  'In  February  Daniel  made  his  way  to 
Boston  in  quest  of  employment  for  himself  or  his 
brother.  Very  opportunely  he  found  that  a  college 
friend,  Dr.  Cyrus  Perkins,  was  on  the  point  of  giving 
up  a  small  private  school  in  Short  (afterward  Kings 
ton)  Street,  and  the  upshot  was  that  arrangements 
were  made  for  Ezekiel  to  assume  the  mastership.  )  By 
continuing  his  studies  out  of  residence,  the  older 
brother  was  able  to  be  graduated,  in  the  same  year, 
with  his  class.  And  so  well  did  he  prosper  in  his  new 
position  that,  dissuading  Daniel  from  yielding  to  a 
transitory  impulse  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  New  York, 
he  was  permitted  to  repay  bygone  sacrifices  by  bring 
ing  the  young  law  student  to  Boston  and  maintaining 

1  Webster   to   Bingham,   October   6,  1803.     Webster,     "Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  145, 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  55 

him  until  his  professional  preparation  had  been  com 
pleted. 

Arrived  in  Boston,  in  July,  1804,  Daniel's  first 
problem  was  to  seek  out  an  office  wherein  to  obtain  a 
clerkship  and,  with  it,  an  opportunity  to  continue  his 
studies.  Having  acquaintance  with  no  member  of  the 
legal  profession  in  the  city,  and  totally  unprovided 
with  letters  of  introduction,  he  found  the  task  far  from 
easy.  After  a  few  unsuccessful  attempts,  he  secured, 
through  a  young  man  scarcely  better  known  than  him 
self,  an  interview  with  Christopher  Gore,  a  Federalist 
of  eminence  who,  after  upward  of  eight  years  spent  in 
Great  Britain  as  one  of  the  commissioners  under  the 
Jay  Treaty  to  settle  claims  for  damages  by  British 
cruisers,  had  just  returned  home  and  had  opened  a  law 
office  in  Scollay's  building,  but  had  as  yet  taken  no 
clerk.  In  his  autobiography  Webster  relates  with 
zest  the  incidents  of  this  interview — his  own  embar 
rassment  in  the  presence  of  so  courtly  a  gentleman, 
Mr.  Gore's  reassuring  manner,  and  the  engagement 
that,  after  fifteen  minutes'  conversation,  was  entered 
into  between  them.  "My  young  friend,"  said  Mr. 
Gore,  as  the  awkward  youth  rose  to  go,  "  you  look  as 
though  you  might  be  trusted.  You  say  you  came  to 
study,  and  not  to  waste  time.  I  will  take  you  at  your 
word.  You  may  as  well  hang  up  your  hat  at  once  ;  go 
into  the  other  room  ;  take  your  book  and  sit  down  to 
reading  it,  and  write  at  your  convenience  to  New 
Hampshire  for  your  letters."  *  jThat  a  lawyer  of  Mr. 
Gore's  experience  and  reputation  should  receive  in  his 
office  as  a  clerk  a  raw  youth  whom  he  had  never  seen, 
and  who  came  without  any  sort  of  commendation  ex- 

1  Autobiography.  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence, "  Vol.  I, 
p.  19. 


56  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

cept  that  of  his  face  and  manner,  is  substantial  evi 
dence  of  the  exceptional  marks  of  trustworthiness,  if 
not  of  promise,  which  the  young  man  bore.  } 

For  Webster  the  affiliation  with  Mr._Gore  was  a 
stroke  of  great  goodjortune.  During  the  months  from 
July,  1804,  to  the  succeeding  March,  he  enjoyed  the 
widest  opportunity,  as  he  tells  us,  to  study  "  men  and 
books  and  things."  Books  on  the  common  and  mu 
nicipal  law  he  read,  besides  Vattel  for  the  third  time, 
Ward's  "  Law  of  Nations,"  Lord  Bacon's  "  Elements," 
Puffendorfs  " Latin  History  of  England,"  Gifford's 
"Juvenal,"  Boswell's  "  Tour  to  the  Hebrides, "  Moore's 
"Travels,"  and  numerous  other  miscellaneous  works. 
The  field  in  which  he  labored  most  was  that  of  the  com 
mon  law,  especially  the  portions  of  it  relating  to  special 
pleading.  u  Whatever  was  in  Viner,  Bacon,  and  other 
books  then  usually  studied  on  that  part  of  the  science, 
I  paid  my  respects  to.  Among  other  things,  I  went 
through  Saunders's  Eeports,  the  old  folio  edition,  and 
abstracted  and  put  into  English,  out  of  Latin  and  Nor 
man  French,  the  pleadings  in  all  his  reports.  It  was 
an  edifying  work."1  Invaluable,  too,  was  the  oppor 
tunity  which  was  now  obtained  for  the  first  time  of 
attending  the  sittings  of  the  higher  courts,  especially 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  and  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Massachusetts.  A  fragmentary  journal  entitled 
4 'Some  Characters  at  the  Boston  Bar,  1804,"  contain 
ing  characterizations  of  Chi  of  Justice  Theophilus  Par 
sons,  Samuel  Dexter,  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  James  Sulli 
van,  and  other  legal  lights  of  the  time,  affords  inter 
esting  evidence  of  the  faithfulness  with  which  this  op 
portunity  was  improved.  In  August,  1804,  it  became 

'Autobiography.     Webster,    "  Private  Correspondence  "  Vol   I 
p.  19. 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  LAW  57 

necessary  for  Ezekiel  to  journey  to  Hanover  to  be 
present  at  the  graduation  of  his  class.  Ajssumiug 
charg^Jbr  a  brief  interval^of  the  Short-Street  school, 
Daniel  forined_the  acquaintance,  among  its  pupils,  of 
Edward  Everett,  destined  to  be  thereafter  through  half 
a  centiiryTrTend  and  companion,  and  in  time  fellow- 
publicist. 

In  January,  1805,  there  arose  a  circumstance  which 
called  out  another  of  the  great  decisions  which  had  so 
much  to  do  with  the  determining  of  Webster's  career. 
The  clerk  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  of  the  county  of 
Hillsborough  (the  court  of  which  Ebenezer  Webster 
was  a  judge)  resigned,  and  Daniel  was  named  as  his 
successor.  The  office  carried  an  income  of  fifteen  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  the  appointment  seemed  to  mean 
that  at  last  the  fortunes  of  the  Webster  family  were 
secure.  The  father  long  since  had  set  his  heart  upon 
obtaining  it  for  his  son,  and  when  at  length  it  was  in 
hand  he  lost  no  time  in  sending  word  that  the  prize 
was  won.  It  fell  to  Mr.  Gore,  in  the  interest  of  the 
larger  future,  to  prick  the  bubble  of  present  good  for 
tune.  The  arguments  with  which  he  tactfully  dis 
suaded  the  young  man  from  accepting  the  post — that 
the  tenure  would  be  precarious,  that  even  if  permanent 
it  would  never  mean  more  than  a  mere  clerkship,  and 
that  its  acceptance  would  cut  off  the  chances  of  a  pro 
fessional  career  now  about  beginning— constituted  in 
deed,  as  Webster  testifies,  "a  shower  bath  of  ice 
water."  But  they  were  convincing,  and  in  the  end 
they  prevailed.  The  most  unpleasant  part  of  the  af 
fair  was  the  breaking  of  the  decision  to  the  aged  and 
fast  declining  parent  who,  after  a  life  crowded  full  of 
sacrifice  for  his  children,  had  caught  at  last  a  gleam  of 
hope  for  a  competency  for  those  who  were  dear  to  him. 


58  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

The  thing  was  done,  although  Webster  took  care  to 
travel  all  the  way  to  Salisbury  to  the  end  that  he 
might  bear  the  news  in  the  most  tactful  and  reassuring 
manner  possible.  "I  should  be  very  sorry,"  he  de 
clared,  half  in  bravado,  to  the  assembled  family,  "if  I 
could  not  do  better  at  present  than  to  be  clerk,  for  fif 
teen  hundred  dollars  a  year,  not  to  speak  of  future 
prospects.  I  mean  to  use  rny  tongue  in  the  courts,  not 
my  pen  ;  to  be  an  actor,  not  a  register  of  other  men's 
actions.  I  hope  yet,  sir,  to  astonish  your  Honor,  in 
your  own  court,  by  my  professional  attainments  !  " 
The  immediate  effect  of  so  startling  an  announcement 
was  painful.  "  For  a  moment,"  relates  Webster,  "I 
thought  he  [the  father]  was  angry.  He  rocked  his 
chair  slightly  ;  a  flash  went  over  an  eye,  softened  by 
age,  but  still  as  black  as  jet ;  but  it  was  gone,  and  I 
thought  I  saw  that  parental  partiality  was,  after  all,  a 
little  gratified  at  this  apparent  devotion  to  an  honor 
able  profession,  and  this  seeming  confidence  of  success 
iu  it.  He  looked  at  me  for  as  much  as  a  minute,  and 
then  said  very  slowly,  '  Well,  my  son,  your  mother  has 
always  said  you  would  come  to  something  or  nothing, 
she  was  not  sure  which  ;  and  I  think  you  are  now  about 
settling  that  doubt  for  her.'  This  he  said,  and  never  a 
word  spoke  more  to  me  on  the  subject."  l 

In  the  mind  of  the  son,  however,  if  not  in  that  of  the 
father,  there  must  have  lingered  some  misgiving.  But 
a  few  weeks  remained  before  he  was  to  be  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  of  what  he  was  then  to  do  he  had  no 
notion,  other  than  is  indicated  in  a  letter  of  March 
10th  to  Mr.  Fuller  :  "  In  two  weeks  I  again  put  myself 
in  motion,  and  like  Noah's  dove,  shall  flutter,  with 

1  Autobiography.  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence."  Vol.  I, 
p.  22. 


PEEPAEATION  FOE  THE  LAW  59 

faint  and  wearied  wing,  over  the  deluge  of  this  world, 
seeking  for  rest.  In  some  country  town  in  New 
Hampshire  I  shall  probably  put  off  my  character  of  a 
rover,  and  fix  my  feet  for  a  season.  Having  been  for 
the  winter  a  wandering  comet,  in  the  spring  I  become 
a  falling  star,  and  shall  drop  from  the  firmament  of 
Boston  gayety  and  pleasure  to  the  level  of  a  rustic  vil 
lage,  of  silence  and  of  obscurity."  1  In  March,  1805, 
on  the  motion  of  his  patron,  Mr.  Gore,  young  Webster 
was  admittedjojjractice  in  th^_£puilji££Qi]ijnQ^Bleas 
in  Boston. 

1  Webster  to  Fuller,  March  10,  1805.    Webster,  "Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  200. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  YOUNG  PRACTITIONER 

THE  choice  of  a  field  within  which  to  enter  upon  the 
practice  of  his  profession  gave  Webster  no  small  con 
cern.  He  would  gladly  have  remained  in  Boston  ;  but 
that  city  seemed  already  to  be  supplied  with  legal 
talent  in  superabundance.  New  York  City  was  con 
sidered  ;  but,  on  the  ground  principally  of  the  expen- 
siveness  of  living  there,  and  of  possible  uu congeniality 
of  climate,  Ezekiel  advised  against  a  removal  thither, 
and  the  idea  was  given  up.  The  elimination  of  these 
larger  cities  meant,  in  effect,  the  fixing  upon  a  loca 
tion  in  some  town  or  rural  region,  presumably  in  New 
Hampshire.  A  twelvemonth  prior  to  his  admission 
to  the  bar  Webster  wrote  to  his  schoolboy  companion, 
Bingham,  that  he  especially  desired  to  settle  in  a  place 
u  where  the  practice  of  the  bar  is  fair  and  honorable, " 
that  he  had  understood  that  the  bar  of  Cheshire  County 
was  superior  in  this  respect  to  that  of  any  other  county 
in  the  state,  and  that  he  would  probably  seek  a  loca 
tion  within  that  county.  In  this  decision  he  professed 
to  be  influenced  in  a  measure  by  his  preference  for  the 
people  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.1 

Judge  Webster  wisely  refrained  from  attempting  to 
influence  his  son's  decision.  "  As  to  the  place  of  your 
settlement,"  he  wrote  in  December,  1804,  "you  must 
determine  for  yourself."  The  ground  upon  which  a 

1  Webster  to  Bingham,  April  3,  1804.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  162. 


THE  YOUNG  PRACTITIONER  61 

decision  was  finally  reached,  however,  was  that  of 
filial  obligation.  Immediately  upon  his  admission  to 
the  bar,  in  April,  1805,  Daniel  went  to  Amheret^J&fiw 
Hampshire,  where  his  father  was  in  attendance  upon  a 
session  of  court.  By  his  earlier  legal  mentor,  Thomp 
son  j  and  by  others  whose  counsel  he  valued,  he  had 
been  advised  to  settle  in  Portsmouth,  which,  being  a 
seaport  and  the  largest  town  in  the  state,  gave  promise 
of  a  fairly  substantial  practice  ;  and  in  his  autobiography 
he  tells  us  that  at  the  time  when  he  left  Boston  he  ex 
pected  to  make  Portsmouth  his  home.  Judge  Webster, 
however,  had  been  for  years  in  precarious  health,  and 
he  was  at  this  time  so  manifestly  in  decline  that  Daniel 
could  not  bring  himself  to  remove  to  even  a  distant 
part  of  the  same  state.  Resolving  not  to  leave  the  im 
mediate  neighborhood  of  Salisbury  during  the  re 
mainder  of  his  father's  lifetime,  he  a  took  a  room/'  as 
he  tells  us,  "  in  the  little  ad^ 


and  there  pnmmAiuMMiJim  prMo.fi  op.  of  t.hp.  Ja.w."  '  The 
station  of  the  couutyjawyer  in  New  England  a  hun 
dred  years  ago  was  not  without  its  attractiveness.  It 
was  respectable.  It  carried  with  it,  indeed,  a  certain 
social  distinction,  at  least  locally,  and  it  opened  the 
ddjOjr  not  infrequently  to  political  preferment.  If  it 
was  rarely  lucrative,  it  at  T^a^!~anwded~the  means  of 
comfortable  existence.  Most  men  who  attained  it 
were  content  with  it,  and  most,  whether  by  reason  of 
limitation  of  talent,  restriction  of  opportunity,  or 
simple  inertia,  were  never  heard  of  beyond  the  confines 
of  their  neighborhood  or  state.  Save  for  a  certain 
restiveness  of  spirit  and  a  wholesome  self-confidence,  it 
might  well  have  been  so  with  Daniel  Webster.  As  it 

1  Autobiography.     Webster,  ''Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  23. 


62  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

was,  the  youug  lawyer  seems  never  to  have  resigned 
himself  to  an  indefinite  prolonging  of  his  humdrum 
existence  at  Boscawen.  The  considerations  involving 
his  sojourn  there  were  of  the  most  honorable  sort ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  had  ceased  to  be  operative  he  lost  no 
time  in  seeking  a  sphere  which  he  felt  to  be  more  com 
mensurate  with  his  aspirations  and  abilities. 

"The  two  years  and  a  half  which  I  spent  in  Bos- 
caweu,"  he  tells  us,  "were  dejppjte^J.o^JiLisiiiess  and 
study.  I  had  enough  of  the  first  to  live  on,  and  to 
afford  opportunity  for  practice  and  discipline.  I  read 
law  and  history  ;  not  without  some  mixture  of  other 
things.  These  were  the  days  of  the  Bosion  Anthology, 
and  I  had  the  honor  of  being  a  contributor  to  thatpub- 
1  i  cation.  There  are  sundry  reviews,  written  by  me,  not 
worth  looking  up  or  remembering. "  '  By  unflagging 
diligence  a  practice  was  built  up  which  could  be  de 
pended  upon  to  yield  some  six  or  seven  hundred  dol 
lars  a  year— enough  to  provide  the  necessities  of  life 
and  leave  something  over  for  the  purchase  of  books. 
Even  such  a  competence  was  to  Webster  a  source  of 
genuine  gratification.  "If  I  am  not  earning  my 
bread  and  cheese  in  exactly  nine  days  after  my  admis 
sion  to  the  bar,-'  he  had  written  to  Bingham,  "I  shall 
certainly  be  a  bankrupt,1'  His  practice  extended  over 
the  three  counties  of  Graftou,  Kockingham,  and  Hills- 
borough.  Although  his  life,  as  he  described  it,  was 
one  of  "writs  and  summonses,"  there  were  frequent 
intervals  of  leisure,  and  these  were  employed  prin 
cipally  in  the  study  of  the  law  and  of  kindred  subjects. 
Cut  off  from  access  to  libraries,  he  purchased  books  in 

1  Autobiography.  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence-  of  Daniel 
\\  ebster,  Vol.  I.  p.  23.  Fonr  contributions  to  the  Antl.ologv  are 
reproduced  in  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp  548-563 


THE  YOUNG  PEACTITIONEE  63 

such  quantities  as  the  condition  of  his  purse  would 
permit.  When  upon  one  occasion  a  sura  of  eighty -five 
dollars  which  had  been  despatched  to  a  Boston  book 
seller  in  payment  for  a  consignment  of  volumes  was 
stolen  from  the  bearer,  the  eifect  was  that  of  a  genuine 
calamity  ;  although  the  book-seller  filled  the  order  on 
credit  and  would  not  so  much  as  accept  the  security 
which  Ezekiel,  in  Daniel's  behalf,  procured.  For 
many  months  thereafter  the  loss  of  Daniel's  eighty-five 
dollars  was  a  subject  of  frequent  allusion,  sometimes 
seriously,  but  often  jestingly,  in  the  letters  of  the 
Webster  family.  To  Bingham  Webster  laments  in 
this  period  his  inability,  by  lack  of  time,  to  continue 
certain  of  his  college  studies  and  diversions,  especially 
the  practice  of  the  art  of  versification.  One  ray  of 
hope  presents  itself  to  him,  however,  namely  that 
writs  may  some  day  be  found  reducible  to  poetical 
form,  thus : 

All  good  sheriffs  in  the  land 

We  command 
That  forthwith  you  arrest  John  Dyer 

Esquire 
If  in  your  precinct  you  can  find  him 

And  bind  him,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

A  saving  sense  of  humor  softened  the  asperities  of 
other  dreary  stretches  in  Webster's  career  long  after 
the  life  at  Boscawen  was  but  a  memory. 

Surrounded  by  conditions  which  afforded  constant 
temptation  to  indulgence  in  petty  chicanery,  We,J)ster_ 
preserved^scrupulouslj:  throughout  these_years^is_per- 
sonar^TgmtJ_^4^hisJofty  ideaFof  his  profession. 
"  StudfT^he  writeTt^inghai^nrtruly  the  grand 
requisite  for  a  lawyer.  Men  may  be  born  poets,  and 


64  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

leap  from  their  cradles  painters ;  nature  may  have 
made  them  musicians,  and  called  on  them  only  to  exer 
cise,  and  not  to  acquire,  ability.  But  law  is  artificial. 
It  is  a  human  science  to  be  learnt,  not  inspired.  .  .  . 
The  evil  is  that  an  accursed  love  for  money  violates 
everything.  We  cannot  study,  because  we  must  petti 
fog.  We  learn  the  low  recourses  of  attorneyism,  when 
we  should  learn  the  conceptions,  the  reasonings,  and 
the  opinions  of  Cicero  and  Murray.  The  love  of  fame 
is  extinguished  ;  every  ardent  wish  for  knowledge  re 
pressed  ;  conscience  put  in  jeopardy,  and  the  best 
feelings  of  the  heart  indurated,  by  the  mean,  money- 
catching,  abominable  practices,  which  cover  with  dis 
grace  a  part  of  the  modern  practitioners  of  law. 
.  .  .  Our  profession  is  good  if  practiced  in  the 
spirit  of  it  ;  it  is  damnable  fraud  and  iniquity,  when 
its  true  spirit  is  supplied  by  a  spirit  of  mischief-mak 
ing  and  money-catching."  By  men  generally  with 
whom  Webster  in  this  period  of  his  career  was  brought 
in  contact  it  was  agreed  that  there  was  in  him  the 
promise  of  an  exponent  ot"  the  law  of  a  type  essentially 
different  from  that  which  has  in  all  times  been  more 
familiar  than  it  ought  to  be  in  the  profession. 

It,  was  the  fortune  of  Judge  Webster  to  be  permitted 
to  hear  his  son's  first  argument  in  court,  but  only  the 
first.  During  the  winter  of  1805-1806  health  failed 
completely  and  in  April,  180(5,  the  pioneer,  soldier, 
lawmaker,  and  jurist  passed  away,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
seven.  He  was,  in  words  applied  to  him  by  his  dis 
tinguished  son  four  decades  later,  "everything  that  a 
man  could  be  to  whom  learning  never  had  disclosed 
her  ample  page" — one  who  faltered  at  nothing  when 

1  Webster  to  Bingham,  January  If),  1806.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  222. 


THE  YOUXG  PRACTITIONER  65 

the  interests  involved  were  those  of  his  family,  his 
community,  or  his  country. 

In  May,  1807,  Webster  was  admitted  as  an  attorney 
and  counselor  of  the  Superior  Court  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  in  September  of  the  same  year  he  relin 
quished  his  office  and  his  business  in  Boscawen  to  his 
brother  Ezekiei  and,  in  conformity  with  his  earlier 
purpose,  removed  to  Portsmouth .%  Ezekiei  had  but 
been  admitted  to  the  bar.  Family  interests  at  Salis 
bury — the  care  of  the  mother  and  sisters  and  the  man 
agement  of  the  property — made  it  imperative  that  one 
of  the  brothers  remain  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
Daniel,  "  not  being  very  willing  to  take  charge  of  the 
farm,"  decided  to  endorse  over  to  Ezekiei  both  farm 
and  office,  on  condition  that  the  two  be  assumed  to 
gether.  The  field  of  legal  opportunity  at  Boscawen 
was  severely  restricted.  For  Ezekiei  it  might  suffice, 
at  least  until  he  should  be  upon  his  feet ;  for  Daniel  it 
was  already  outgrown.  Besides,  it  afforded  no  u  pleas 
ure  of  a  social  sort,"  of  which  the  younger  brother  was 
ever  fond.  But  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  Daniel 
now  assumed  his  father's  debts  and  that  he  long  con 
tinued  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  his  mother  and 
sisters. 

The  removal  to  Portsmouth  constitutes  a  division 
point  in  Webster's  career.  By  it  he  definitely  cnt^ 
lo^sefrom  the  petty  routine  of  _an  obscure  country 
lajjgyer  and  set  his  fooTon  the  upward  path  of  profes 
sional  attainment.  TSTne  years,  in  all,  were  spent  in 
practice  and  study  within  this  larger  field.  For  a 
time  the  outlook  was  not  roseate.  In  the  town  the 
newcomer  found  seven  or  eight  other  men  who  filled 
writs  and  performed  varied  legal  services,  so  that  the 
share  which  fell  to  him  was  for  a  time  meagre. 


66  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

"Money,"  he  writes  to  Ezekiel,  March  3,  1808,  "I 
have  none.  I  shall  certainly  be  hanged  before  three 
weeks,  if  I  cannot  get  some.  What  can  be  done?" 
A  week  later  he  writes  that  he  has  *  *  already  got  to 
the  second  item  of  his  will."  The  days  brightened, 
however,  and  within  a  year  or  two  he  was  earning  an 
ample  competence.  From  debt  he  never  wholly  es 
caped.  Indebtedness,  on  the  part  of  himself,  his 
family,  and  many  of  his  associates,  was  a  perennial 
condition,  and  it  was  his  misfortune  to  allow  the  easy 
assumption  to  settle  upon  him  that  it  was  a  normal, 
and  in  no  wise  a  dishonorable,  condition.  His  in 
tegrity  was  unimpeachable,  but  he  neither  now  nor 
later  felt,  as  his  father  and  his  brother  Ezekiel  felt, 
that  indebtedness  involved  a  certain  sort  of  social,  and 
even  moral,  stigma. 

At  the  time  of  his  settlement  in  Portsmouth  Webster 
was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  in  appearance 
striking  and  in  manner  attractive.  People  generally 
concurred  in  the  judgment  of  the  Reverend  Buck- 
minster's  daughter  that  the  young  lawyer  was  "  a  re 
markable  person"  and  that  he  "had  a  most  marked 
character  for  good  or  for  evil."  Dr.  Buckininster  was 
the  father  of  the  Exeter  usher  already  mentioned  and 
minister  of  the  principal  Congregational  church  in 
Portsmouth.  He  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  young 
man  and,  perceiving  the  apparent  frailty  of  his  consti 
tution,  urged  upon  him  the  exercise  afforded  by  a  half- 
hour's  wood-sawing  each  morning  before  breakfast. 
Indeed,  indisposed  to  counsel  what  he  would  not  him 
self  practice,  the  reverend  gentleman  very  frequently 
pulled  one  end  of  a  " cross-cut"  saw  while  Webster 
pulled  the  other.  "  We  young  people,"  wrote  Miss 
Buekminster  later,  "  were  always  delighted  when  this 


THE  YOUNG  PBACTITIONEB  67 

strong  medicine  was  taken  before  breakfast,  for,  how 
ever  disagreeable  in  itself,  Mr.  Webster  appeared  at 
our  breakfast  afterward  with  his  genial  humor  unim 
paired."  l 

Nine  mouths  after  the  settlement  in  Portsmouth 
Webster  slipped  away  for  a  visit,  it  was  supposed, 
among  his  relatives  and  earlier  friends,  but,  in  point  of 
fact,  to  be  married.  Until  within  a  few  months  of  the 
date  of  the  wedding  no  intimation  of  such  a  purpose 
had  been  forthcoming.  "  I  am  making,"  he  writes  to 
Merrill,  in  May,  1804,  "  no  progress  toward  matri 
mony.  In  point  of  time  I  am.  twenty-three  years 
nearer  to  it  than  when  I  was  born  ;  but,  in  point  of 
probability,  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  any."  At  some 
time  in  1807,  however,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Miss,  Grace  ^Fletcher,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Elijah 
Fletcher,  of  Hopkiutou.  One  story  is  that  he  saw  the 
young  lady  for  the  first  time  at  church  in  Salisbury 
during  the  course  of  a  visit  which  she  was  paying  to 
her  elder  sister,  the  wife  of  Israel  W.  Kelly,  of  Salis 
bury,  then  sheriff  of  Merriinac  County  and  subsequently 
United  States  marshal  for  the  district  of  New  Hamp 
shire.  At  any  rate,  an  engagement  ensued,  and  before 
the  end  of  the  year  Webster  was  confiding  to  Fuller 
that  he  had  "been  a  young  dog  long  enough,"  and 
that  he  now  thought  of  joining  himself,  "as  soon  as 
convenient,  to  that  happy  and  honorable  society  of 
which  you  are  one, — the  society  of  married  men." 
The  wedding  took  place  at  Salisbury,  June  24,  1808. 
Immediately  after  it  Webster  returned  with  his  bride 
to  Portsmouth. 

At  the  time  of  her  marriage  Mrs.    Webster  was 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  82. 

3  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  25. 


68  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

twenty-seven  years  of  age,  one  year  older  than  htr 
husband.  All  testimony  concurs  that  she  was  a  womau 
of  refinement  and  o^forcefuLcharacter.  Her  education 
fitted  her  to  appreciate,  and  even  to  share  in,  tlie 
Iar5ors~and_the_ successes'*  of  her  hiist>ahd,  and  during 
the  "twelTty  years  of  her  subsequent  life  she  was  COIK- 
nionly  regarded  by  all  who  knew  her  as  a  model  wife 
and  mother.  Her  dignity,  her  composure,  and  htr 
ability  to  meet  every  kind  of  situation  commanded 
wide-spread  admiration.  In  1810  there  was  born  a 
daughter,  to  whom  was  given  the  name  of  the  mother. 
Such  glimpses  as  may  be  had  into  the  Webster  house 
hold  during  the  years  at  Portsmouth  are  pleasing  in 
the  extreme.  In  a  collection  of  reminiscences  employed 
by  Mr.  Curtis  in  his  biography  of  Webster  Mr.  Tickuor 
writes  as  follows  :  "  Between  1809  and  1814  I  was  fre 
quently  in  Portsmouth.  ...  I  always  saw  Mr. 
Webster  on  these  occasions,  dining  with  him  at  his 
own  house  and  elsewhere,  and  meeting  him  often  in  the 
evening.  Sometimes  I  saw  him  at  his  office.  He 
seemed  busy,  but  was  always  ready  for  cheerful  con 
versation  ;  and  loved  to  tell  humorous  stories  of  his 
college  life.  His  office  was  a  common,  ordinary  look 
ing  room,  with  less  furniture  and  more  books  than 
common.  .  .  .  When  I  first  saw  him  there  he 
lived  in  a  small,  modest,  wooden  house,  which  was 
burned  in  the  great  fire  in  1813.  His  parlor  was  n 
bright  and  cheerful  room.  I  remember  how  proud 
and  fond  he  seemed  of  little  Grace,  his  first  child,  as 
she  sat  by  the  fire  with  her  book  ;  a  child  of  uncom  - 
mon  intelligence,  with  a  brilliant  red  and  white  com 
plexion,  and  deep-set  eyes,  and  hair  as  black  as  her 
father's.  He  seemed  very  happy.  He  had  grown  a 
little  stouter  than  he  was  when  I  first  saw  him,  and  had 


THE  YOUNG  PKACTITIONEK  69 

a  more  commanding  air  ;  but  he  was  always  animated, 
and  sometimes  full  of  fun.  After  the  fire  he  had  a 
somewhat  better  house  ;  that,  I  think,  was  behind  Dr. 
Buckmiusters  church.  Mrs.  Webster  was  pleasing 
and  animated,  and  her  manner  to  the  friends  of  her 
husband,  and  to  us  young  men,  was  very  kind  and 
cordial."  l 

Professionally,  at  least,  the  nine  years  spent  at 
Portsmouth  comprised  the  formative  period  of  Web 
ster's  life.  It  was  during  these  years  that  the  crude 
law  student  was  converted  into  the  skilled  and  polished 
practitioner.  In  his  professional  friendships  anci_as- 
sociations  he  was  from  the  outset  fortunate.  The 
ablest  lawyers  of  New  Hampshire — JereThiah  Smith, 
George  Sullivan,  William  Plunier,  Jeremiah  Mason — 
and  legal  leaders  of  adjacent  states,  including  Dexter 
and  Parsons  of  Massachusetts,  practiced  regularly  at 
Portsmouth,  and  with  all  of  these  Webster  was  brought 
into  intimate  relation,  both  professionally  and  socially. 
The  environment  was  precisely  of  the  sort  that  the 
young  man  needed.  His  eiforts  to  hold  his  own  with 
his  older  associates  kept  him  continuously  upon  his 
mettle.  He  was  impelled  to  study  assiduously  and  to 
amend  relentlessly  every  error  into  which  he  fell.  In 
the  earlier  contests  in  which  he  was  engaged  he  was 
not  infrequently  worsted.  Plumer  defeated  him  in  the 
first  case  in  which  the  two  were  opposed.  Mason  did 
the  same  thing.  It  was  instantly  perceived,  however, 
that  in  young  Webster  the  ablest  lawyer  of  them  all 
had  an  opponent  worthy  of  his  steel.  By  leaving  off 
the  florid  style  of  speaking  to  which  he  had  been  prone 
and  by  cultivating  in  its  stead  the  sinrple?  direct  oratory 
which  appealed  to  a  jury,  he  multiplied  his  effective- 

1  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  85. 


70  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ness  as  an  advocate  and  ere  long  was  winning  more 
than  his  share  of  eases.  Under  the  spur  of  combat  with 
more  experienced  men  he  was  pushed  all  of  the  time  to 
the  limit  of  his  ingenuity  and  ability.  Nothing  con 
tributes  more  directly  to  the  ripening  of  lawyerly 
talent. 

Of  all  his  professional  mentors  and  associates,  by  his 
own  testimony  Jeremiah  Mason  was  most  helpful  and 
most  influential.  Mr.  Mason,  to-day  but  little  known, 
was  in  his  time  a  commanding  figure.  When  Webster 
settled  in  Portsmouth,  Mason  was  the  recognized 
leader  of  the  New  Hampshire  bar  and  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  lawyers  of  New  England.  A  man  of  massive 
physique,  of  heavy  countenance,  and  of  apparently 
lethargic  disposition,  he  was  none  the  less  wonderfully 
alert,  industrious,  and  forceful.  His  knowledge  of 
books  was  not  remarkable,  but  his  acquaintance  with 
the  great  body  of  the  common  law  was  in  his  day  un 
surpassed.  Of  rhetoric  he  knew  little,  and  of  the  fine 
points  of  studied  oratory,  less.  He  scorned,  indeed, 
all  arts  of  speech  save  that  of  simple  and  clear  argu 
mentation.  By  sheer  ability  to  couch  his  arguments 
in  language  comprehensible  by  the  most  ordinary  jury 
he  won  many  a  case.  In  all  that  pertained  to  court 
room  methods  Webster  took  him  as  a  model.  "He 
had  a  habit,"  Webster  one  time  recalled,  "  of  stand 
ing  quite  near  to  the  jury,  so  near  that  he  might  have 
laid  his  finger  on  the  foreman's  nose  ;  and  then  he 
talked  to  them  in  a  plain  conversational  way,  in  short 
sentences,  and  using  no  word  that  was  not  level  to  the 
comprehension  of  the  least  educated  man  on  the  panel. 
This  led  me  to  examine  my  own  style,  and  I  set  about 
reforming  it  altogether. " 

Throughout  his  later  life  Webster  not  infrequently 


THE  YOUXG  PKACTITIONER  71 

testified  to  his  admiration  for  Mason  and  to  the  debt 
which  he  owed  him.  In  the  Autobiography,  written 
eighteen  years  before  Mason's  death  in  1848,  appears 
the  following  tribute  :  "  For  the  nine  years  I  lived  in 
Portsmouth  Mr.  Mason  and  myself,  in  the  counties 
where  we  both  practiced,  were  on  opposite  sides, 
pretty  much  as  a  matter  of  course.  He  has  been  of 
infinite  advantage  to  me,  not  only  by  his  unvarying 
friendship,  but  by  the  many  good  lessons  he  has 
taught  and  the  example  he  set  me  in  the  beginning  of 
my  career.  If  there  be  in  the  country  a  stronger  in 
tellect,  if  there  be  a  mind  of  more  native  resources,  if 
there  be  a  vision  that  sees  quicker  or  sees  deeper  into 
whatever  is  intricate  or  whatsoever  is  profound,  I 
must  confess  I  have  not  known  it.  I  have  not  written 
this  paragraph  without  considering  what  it  implies.  I 
look  to  that  individual  who,  if  it  belong  to  anybody, 
is  entitled  to  be  an  exception.  But  I  deliberately  let 
the  judgment  stand.  That  that  individual  has  much 
more  habit  of  regular  composition,  that  he  has  been 
disciplined  and  exercised  in  a  vastly  superior  school, 
that  he  possesses  even  a  faculty  of  illustration  more 
various  and  more  easy,  I  think  may  be  admitted. 
That  the  original  reach  of  his  mind  is  greater,  that  its 
grasp  is  stroDger,  that  its  logic  is  closer,  I  do  not  al 
low."  l  The  person  whom  Webster  had  in  mind  in 
drawing  this  comparison  was  none  other  than  Chief 
Justice  John  Marshall. 

The  years  of  residence  at  Portsmouth  were  marked, 
further,   by  Webster's  entry,    in  a  modest  way,  into 


1  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  24.  During 
the  years  1813-1817  Mason  occupied  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  In  1832  he  removed  to  Boston,  where,  after  six  years  of 
practice,  he  lived  in  retirement  until  his  death  in  1848. 


72  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

politics.  It  was  the  opinion  of  William  Plumer,  after 
hearing  some  of  Webster's  earlier  arguments  in  court, 
that  the  young  man  was  indeed  rather  better  fitted  for 
politics  than  for  the  law  ;  and  there  was  some  ground 
for  the  judgment.  Kernarkable  as  were  Webster's 
subsequent  triumphs  within  the  domain  of  the  law, 
they  were  clearly  surpassed  by  his  achievements  as 
statesman  and  publicist.  In  the  first  half  of  the  nine 
teenth  century  a  young  lawyer  was  even  more  likely  to 
be  drawn  into  political  life  than  is  his  counterpart  to 
day.  Opportunity  within  the  purely  legal  field  was 
more  restricted,  pecuniary  rewards  were  very  much 
smaller,  and  the  allurements  of  public  office  were  cor 
respondingly  more  impelling.  Webster's  entrance 
upon  a  career  of  political  activity  was  j^radual  but 
inevitable.  From"  an  early  clay^he  had  cherished  a 
disti net  taste  to r _|ioj i * i f *.s  a.n d  for  things  political,  and 
his  large  participation  in  political  affairs  in  after  times 
is  to  be  attributed  not  only  to  the  logic  of  circumstances 
but  to  the  following  out  of  a  predominating  personal 
inclination. 

In  politics  Webster  was  a  Federalist.  At  the  outset, 
at  Ieast7~^EencouTcT hardly  liavlT^been  anything  other 
than  a  Federalist  and  at  the  same  time  have  been  his 
father's  son.  For  Kbenezer  Webster  was  a  Federalist 
of  the  deepest  dye.  It  is  related  of  him  that,  being 
once  taken  ill  in  a  Democratic  community,  he  begged 
to  be  removed  to  his  home,  declaring  that  he  had  been 
born  a  Federalist,  that  he  had  lived  a  Federalist,  and 
that  he  would  not  "die  in  a  Democratic  town." 
Kzekiel  Webster,  likewise,  was  a  Federalist  of  the 
rock-ribbed  variety.  He  refused  persistently  to  mod 
ify  in  the  least  the  political  principles  under  which  he 
had  been  brought  up,  even  though  by  yielding  but  a 


THE  YOUNG  PKACTITIONEK  73 

little  lie  might  easily  have  attained  the  honor  of  a  seat 
in  Congress.  In  his  earlier  yeanj  Daniel,  likewise, 
CQuld_see  nothing  of  good  in  a  Democrat.  The  polit 
ical  overturu^oTTStRTby  whicfiTTefferspn  was  brought  to 
the  presidency  was  for  the  Webster  family  gall  and 
wormwood,  and  the  capture  of  New~Hainpshire  by  the 
Democrats  in  1804  was  little  short  of  a  public  calamity. 
In  reply  to  a  pessimistic  letter  from  Daniel  announc 
ing  to  Ezekiel,  then  at  Boston,  the  last-mentioned 
event,  Ezekiel  writes  :  "  In  my  opinion  there  is  not  a 
nook  or  corner  in  the  United  States  that  will  not  be 
revolutionized.  The  contagion  of  democracy  will  per 
vade  every  place  and  corrupt  every  generous  and 
manly  sentiment."  l 

Never  did  Daniel  question  the  essential  soundness  of 
the  principles  of  Federalism.  But  he  early  threw  off, 
if  indeed  he  ever  cherished,  that  intensely  partisan 
spirit- which  was  so  eminently  characteristic  of  his 
father  and  of  his  brother.  Political  partie§_,seemed  to 
him  inevitable,  but  undesirable.  Power  of  intellect 
and  breadth"oF~sympathy  enabled  him  to  view  public 
questions  with  a  larger  judiciousness  than  was  for  most 
men  possible,  and  from  an  early  stage  of  his  career  he 
schooled  himself  to  practice  moderation  in  speech  and 
in  action  in  all  things,  political  as  well  as  otherwise. 
Prior  to  1812  his  own  political  activities  were  limited. 
Early  in  1804,  during  a  visit  to  Salisbury,  he  was  pre 
vailed  upon  to  write  an  anonymous  pamphlet  advocat 
ing  the  election  of  John  Oilman,  the  Federalist  candi 
date  and  long  a  friend  of  the  Webster  family,  to  the 
governorship  of  New  Hampshire.  Of  this  brochure — 
"  An  Appeal  to  Old  Whigs 7? — he  wrote  to  Bingham  a 
year  later  that  he  had  "had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it 

1  Webster,  ''Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  175. 


74  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

kicked  about  under  many  tables."  He  thought  but 
little  of  it  and  requested  that  the  secret  of  its  author 
ship  be  preserved.1  Three  Fourth  of  July  orations  de 
livered  between  1801  and  1809  were  of  literary  rather 
than  political  interest.2  "My  time,"  he  records  in  the 
Autobiography,  u  was  always  exclusively  given  to  niy 
profession  till  1812,  when  the  war  commenced.  I  had 
occasionally  taken  part  in  political  questions,  always 
felt  an  interest  in  elections,  and  contributed  my  part, 
1  believe,  to  the  political  ephemera  of  the  day.  In 
deed,  I  always  felt  an  interest  in  political  concerns. 
My  lucubrations  for  the  press  go  back,  I  believe,  to 
my  sixteenth  year.  They  are,  or  ought  to  be,  all  for 
gotten,  at  least,  most  of  them  j  and  all  of  this  early 
period."  3 

In  the  intervals  of  professional  labor  Webster,  none 
the  less,  read  widely  upon  the  political  developments 
of  both  America  and  Europe.  His  interest  in  jmblic 
questions  knew  no  bounds,  geographical  or  otherwise. 
ManyTJTFugs  he~Iounor~to  disapprove.  Indeed  the  pre 
vailing  tone  of  his  political  observations  during  this 
period  is  pessimistic.  To  Merrill  he  writes,  a  few 
mouths  before  the  removal  to  Portsmouth  :  "It  is  in 
deed  alarming  that  private  character  weighs  nothing 
in  the  scale  of  public  office.  .  .  .  Indeed  I  fear 
that  our  country  is  growing  corrupt  at  a  rate  which 
distances  the  speed  of  every  other.  I  do  not  say  that 
the  degree  of  positive  corruption  is  so  great,  but  the 
course  toward  total  depravity  is  swift."  There  is  lam- 


pamphlet  is  reproduced  in  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol. 
XV,  pp.  522-531. 

2  In  1802,  at  FryeVmrg  ;  in  1805,  at  Salisbury  ;  in  1806,  at  Con 
cord.  See  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,'  pp.  505-521.  537- 
547. 

8  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  25. 


THE  YOUNG  PKACTITIONER  75 

entation  also  by  reason  of  the  evils  that  have  befallen 
Europe  in  consequence  of  the  Napoleonic  domination. 
"  The  times,"  it  is  declared,  "  are  such  that  I  am  sur 
prised  at  nothing.  If,  before  I  rise  from  my  table,  I 
should  learn  that  Napoleon  is  in  London,  it  would  not 
astonish  me.  I  am  persuaded  that  a  great  revolution 
is  taking  place,  not  only  in  Europe,  but  through  the 
world.  Society  is  deeply  shaken  everywhere.  The 
minds  of  men  are  flying  from  all  steadfast  principles, 
like  an  arrow  from  the  bow.  Principles  are  called 
prejudices,  and  duty,  scrupulosity.  Where  all  of  this 
will  end,  you  and  I  cannot  tell."  l 

Webster's  earlier  years  at  Portsmouth  fell,  indeed, 
within  a  period  of  wide-spread  public  unrest.  More 
and  more  the  United  States  was  being  made  to  suffer 
by  reason  of  the  abnormal  situation  in  Europe  created 
by  the  titanic  conflict  of  England  and  France.  The 
Napoleonic  decrees  and  the  British  orders  in  council 
of  1806  and  1807  unquestionably  involved  less  injury 
to  American  commerce  than  has  sometimes  been  rep 
resented,  but  the  injury  was  certainly  considerable, 
and  the  course  which  the  United  States  might  best 
pursue  to  obviate  it  came  to  be  easily  the  predominat 
ing  public  issue  of  the  day.  In  New  England,  and  es 
pecially  among  the  New  England  Federalists,  it  was 
urged  that  the  ultimate  responsibility  for  the  disturb 
ance  of  the  international  equilibrium  was  to  be  laid  at 
the  door  of  Napoleon,  and  that,  however  reprehensible 
the  course  which  Great  Britain  was  pursuing  in  mari 
time  affairs,  France  was  the  nation  primarily  to  be 
held  to  account.  The  shipping  interests,  solidly  Fed 
eralist  in  political  affiliation,  demanded  insistently  the 

1  Webster  to  Merrill,  March  8,  1807.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  225. 


76  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

preservation  of  peace,  the  adjustment  ol'  our  commer 
cial  difficulties  by  diplomacy,  and  the  avoiding  of  any 
course  of  action  that  would  bear  the  slightest  appear 
ance  of  an  alliance  with  Napoleon.  Federalism,  how 
ever,  had  lost  its  grip  upon  the  nation,  and  the  Federal 
ists  were  unable  to  prevent  the  gradual  drift  of  the  coun 
try  into  war  with  Great  Britain.  Prior  to  the  actual 
outbreak  of  hostilities  Webster  was  too  much  preoccu 
pied  with  his  legal  practice  to  do  more  than  follow  wit  h 
interest,  and  occasionally  to  comment  pointedly  upon, 
the  growing  problem  of  our  foreign  policy.  In  1808 
he  indulged  his  political  inclination  to  the  extent  oi' 
publishing  anonymously  a  small  pamphlet  entitled 
u  Considerations  on  the  Embargo  Laws,"  the  principal 
thesis  of  which  was  the  unconstitutionally  of  an  em 
bargo  measure  not  expressly  limited  in  duration.1  Jn 
his  clear-cut  differentiation  of  a  limited  from  an  un 
limited  embargo  he  here  gave  evidence  of  that  ability 
which  he  displayed  so  remarkably  in  later  years  to 
seize  upon  a  vital  aspect  of  a  subject  and  to  portray  it 
so  vividly  that  even  tlie  most  unlearned  and  the  most 
indifferent  might  comprehend  it.  Portsmouth  was  a 
coast  town,  in  which  commercial  interests  preponder 
ated,  and  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  attitude  of 
Webster  toward  the  restrictionist  measures  oi'  the 
Jefferson  and  Madison  administrations  was  determined 
in  some  degree  not  merely  by  his  Federalist  proclivi 
ties  but  by  the  feelings  and  interests  of  his  neighbors. 

From  1809  to  1812  Webster's  time  was  absorbed  al 
most  wholly  by  his  professional  engagements,  lie 
followed  the  Superior  Court  through  most  of  the  coun 
ties  of  the  state,  and  appeared  before  it  as  counsel  in 
very  nearly  every  case  of  first-rate  importance.  Ac- 
1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol,  XV,  pp.  564.-~>74, 


THE  YOUNG  PKACTITIONEE  77 

cording  to  his  own  account,  his  income  in  these  times 
rarely,  if  ever,  reached  two  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
But  he  was  fast  Acquiring  a  legal  reputation  which  was 
much  out  of  the  ordinary,  iTnoTtne  way  was  opening 
more  rapidly  than  he  dreamed  for  the  broadening  of 
his  field  of  activity.  In  the  summer  of  1809  he  paid  a 
visit  to  Dartmouth  College,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
delivered  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  an 
oration  on  the  subject  "  The  State  of  our  Literature." 
If  the  oration  was  not  a  remarkable  one,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  it  was  prepared  at  odd  moments  dur 
ing  the  tedious  trip  to  Hanover.  It  was,  however,  far 
from  a  perfunctory  piece  of  work,  and  we  have  the  as 
surance  of  Mr.  Ticknor.  who  as  a  youth  of  eighteen 
was  privileged  to  hear  it,  that  it  was  very  much  ad 
mired  and  praised  ;  although  he  adds  that  it  seemed 
to  him  at  the  time  "that  the  excitement  he  created 
and  the  homage  he  received  were  due  rather  to  their 
[the  hearers']  affection  for  the  man,  and  their  admira 
tion  of  him,  than  to  the  merit  of  that  particular  per 
formance.  ' '  * 

On  June  18,  1812,  by  act  of  Congress  war  was  de 
clared  with  Great  Britain.  July  4th— barely  more  than 
two  weeks  later — Webster  delivered  a  speech  which, 
marking  as  it  did  in  a  very  real  sense  his  entrance  of 
the  political  arena,  was  easily  the  most  important  of 
his  career  to  this  point.  The  address  was  delivered, 
by  invitation,  before  the  Washington  Benevolent  So 
ciety  of  Portsmouth.  It  comprised  a  masterful  argu 
ment  against  the  necessity  and  Jihe^wisdom  of  the 
lately  adopted~^o!icy"of  war.  Demonstrating  that 
maritime  defense,  the  protection  of  trade,  and  the  pro- 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  96.  For  the  oration  see  "  Writ 
ings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp.  575-582. 


78  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

viding  of  a  national  revenue  were  fundamental  ob 
jects  of  the  Union,  and  directing  attention  to  the  de 
partures  which  the  Democrats  had  made  from  the 
sound  Washington  ian  policies  in  these  matters,  the 
orator  went  on  to  insist  that  if  there  _must_be  a  war, 
the  depleted_navy  should,be_MJoiiS^ecQiLStituted,  the 
much-talked-of  project  of  invading  Canada  should  be 
abandoned,  and  every^  jnjeasure^hpjild__be_adopted  to 

auinorable  close. 


In  his  criticism  of  the  men  who,  while  ready  to  force  a 
war,  had  neglected  to  prepare  the  country  for  such  a 
contingency,  he  but  voiced  the  opinion  of  the  Feder 
alists  universally.  At  one  point,  however,  he  took 
occasion  to  affirm  in  no  uncertain  tone  a  principle 
upon  which  ^deraHsts^jEejOarjEQ^^gi'eed,  namely, 
the  unalterable  obligatkm_pX^iL^itizejis_to_obey  im 
plicitly  thTTaws~p?,JiieJaud,  however  objectionable 
they^ighYlbe.  So  unpopular  among  New  England 
Federalists  was  "  Mr.  Madison's  war  "  that,  as  is  well 
enough  known,  many  persons  were  ready  not  simply 
to  withhold  from  it  every  vestige.  of  support,  but  even 
to  go  as  far  in  positive  opposition  to  it  as  was  possible 
without  incurring  the  risk  of  an  indictment  for  trea 
son.  Within  the  circle  of  Webster's  friends  and  asso 
ciates  there  were  scores  of  men  whose  attitude  was,  and 
continued  to  be,  one  of  unrelieved  bitterness. 

By  Webster  himself,  however,  the  absolute  enforce 
ment  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  laws  had  ever  been 
regarded  as  a  basic  necessity  and  unreserved  obedience 
thereto  on  the  part  of  the  citizen  an  unquestionable 
obligation.  "With  respect  to  the  war  in  which  we 
are  now  involved,"  he  solemnly  affirmed,  "  the  course 
which  our  principles  require  us  to  pursue  cannot  be 
doubtful.  It  is  now  the  law  of  the  land,  and  as  such 


THE  YOUNG  PRACTITIONER  70 

we  are  bound  to  regard  it.  Resistance  and  insurrection 
form  no  part  of  our  creed.  The  disciples  of  Washington 
are  neither  tyrants  in  power  nor  rebels  out.  If  we  are 
taxed  to  carry  on  this  war,  we  shall  disregard  certain 
distinguished  examples,  and  shall  pay.  If  our  personal 
services  are  required,  we  shall  yield  them  to  the  pre 
cise  extent  of  our  constitutional  liability.  At  the 
same  time,  the  world  may  be  assured  that  we  know 
our  rights,  and  shall  exercise  them.  We  shall  express 
our  opinions  on  this,  as  on  every  measure  of  govern 
ment — I  trust,  without  passion  ;  I  am  certain,  without 
fear.  ...  By  the  exercise  of  our  constitutional 
right  of  suffrage,  by  the  peaceable  remedy  of  election, 
we  shall  seek  to  restore  wisdom  to  our  councils  and 
peace  to  our  country."  At  a  time  when  older  and 
more  experienced  men  were  playing  fast  and  loose 
with  the  obligations  of  law-abiding  citizenship,  such 
doctrine  from  the  lips  of  a  Fourth  of  July  orator  but 
thirty  years  of  age  was  hardly  less  remarkable  than 
wholesome.  It  would  have  been  well  if  many  a  New 
Englauder  in  succeeding  years  had  pondered  more 
seriously  the  principle  here  so  forcefully  enunciated.1 

To  men  of  moderate  temper  Webster's  oration 
appealed  with  power.  The  document  was  promptly 
printed  and  two  editions  were  exhausted.  In  the 
following  August  its  author  was  appointed  a  delegate 
from  Portsmouth  to  attend  a  conventionjof  the  people 
of  the  county  of  Rockingham,  held  in  part  to  prepare 
a  formal  expression  of  the  public  disapproval,  of  the 
warj  aricT  the  Rockingham  convention  proved  an  im 
portant  episode  in  his  career.  A  paper  drawn  up  by 
him— the  so-called  " Rockingham  Memorial" — was 

lrThe  speech  is  printed  in  "Writings  and  Speeches, "  Vol.  XV, 
pp.  583-598. 


80  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

signed  by  a  committee  representing  more  than  fift.ee  i 
hundred  delegates  and  transmitted  to  President  Mad  - 
isou  as  the  approved  expression  of  the  sense  of  the 
convention.  The  tone  of  the  memorial  was  dignitiec, 
courteous,  and  moderate  ;  but  the  protest  against  the 
war  was  firm,  the  disapproval  of  cooperation  \vit  i 
France  was  uncompromising,  and  the  demand  for  imme 
diate  naval  preparations  was  insistent.  Continue. 1 
fidelity  to  the  Union  was  specifically  avowed,  although 
there  was  mention  of  a  possible  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  which,  should  it  ever  occur,  might  be  expecte  1 
to  take  place  "on  some  occasion  when  one  portion  c  f 
the  country  undertakes  to  control,  to  regulate,  and  to 
sacrifice  the  interest  of  another."  There  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  that  this  allusion  to  the  subject  of 
secession  sprang  from  the  influence  of  the  commit  tee, 
whose  sentiments  Webster,  as  chairman  and  spokes 
man,  was  obliged  to  incorporate  in  the  memorial.  In 
the  Autobiography,  written  in  1832,  occurs  this  inter 
esting  comment :  "  August,  1812,  1  wrote  the  Rock  ing- 
ham  Memorial.  It  was  an  anti-war  paper,  of  some  note 
in  its  time.  I  confess  I  am  pleased  to  find,  on  looking 
at  it  now,  for  I  do  not  think  I  have  read  it  in  all  the 
twenty  years  that  have  rolled  by  since  I  wrote  it, 
among  all  its  faults,  whether  of  principle  or  in  execu 
tion,  that  it  is  of  a  tone  and  strain  less  vulgar  than 
such  things  are  prone  to  be."  ' 

The  Rockingham  convention  was  of  further  impor 
tance  in  the  career  of  Webster  in  that,  in  recognition 
of  his  services  during  the  session,  as  well  as  of  his  well- 
teste(T~nbil iTyTuiif  integrity  in  general,  the  delegates 

1  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence/'  Vol.  I,  p.  25.  The 
Memorial  is  printed  in  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XV,  pp. 
5<)9-filO. 


THE  YOUNG  PRACTITIONER  81 

conferred  upon  him  the  honor  of  agnomination  to  a  seat 
in  the  Thirteenth  Congress.  At  the  election  inTETe 
following  November  his  party  was  victorious  in  the 
district,  and  May  24,  1813,  at  the  convening  of  the  new 
Congress  in  special  session,  he  took  his  place  on  the 
floor  of  the  lower  house  at  Washington.  He  was  at 
the  time  but  thirty-one  years  of  age. 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN  CONGRESS  FKOM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

IN  compliance  with  au  arrangement  agreed  upon  by 
its  expiring  predecessor,  the  Thirteenth  Congress  wa  •; 
convened  in  special  session  May  24,  1813.  The  Senate 
was  still  strongly  Democratic,  and  in  the  new  lions*; 
of  Representatives  thtTdoininating  element  was  tin; 
remarkable  group  of  younger  Democratic  statesmen— 
the  "  war-hawks"  of  JohiTT^audolph's  famous  char 
acterization  —  whose  voices  and  votes  had  been  chiefly 
instrumental  in  bringing  on  the  contest  with  Great 
Britain  and  in  determining  the  method  of  its  conduct 
to  the  present  point.  Henry  Clay  was  a  member  and 
was  promptly  reflected  Speaker.1  John  C.  Calhoun 
was  the  Administration's  ablest  spokesman.  John 
McLean  of  Ohio,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll  of  Pennsylvania, 
Felix  Grundy  of  Tennessee,  William  Gastoii  of  jSTorth 
Carolina,  and  John  Forsyth  and  George  M.  Tronp  of 
Georgia,  were  able  debaters  and  vigilant  parliaments 
rians.  To  Webster  felljat  thejoutset  a  post  which 
afforded  him,  as  a  new  member,  an  unusual  oppor- 
ijs^voice^jieard^in  the  proceedings  of 


the  House.  He  was  appointed,  May  26th,  to  the  Com- 
mittee_  on  Foreign  Relations,  of  which  Calhoun  was 
chairman.  ^f^c^nTTt'fee^was  at  the  time  more  im 
portant,  and  no  appointment  could  have  been  to  Flie 
young  New  Hampshire  member  more  gratifying. 

1  Having  been  appointed  a  member  of  the  commission  to  negotiate 
peace  with  Oreat  Britain,  Clay  resigned  the  speakership,  January 
14,  1814. 


IN  CONGKESS  FEOM  NEW  HAMPSHIEE    83 

The  fundamental  task  of  the  Thirteenth  Congress 
was  to  make  provision  for  the  successful  prosecution  // 
of  the  Avar.     All  things  considered,  the  task  was  one  of  ¥{\ 
disheartening    proportions.     The    war    hitherto  had  I  $ 
been,  by  common  admission,  a  failure,  whose  depress-  v* 
ing    effect    was   relieved    only    by    certain  brilliant 
achievements  upon  the  high  seas.     The  armies  were 
small   and   undisciplined;  the  commanders  were,  in    M 
large  part,    inexperienced  and  of  doubtful   ability  ;    I 
equipment  was  meagre  and  antiquated ;  funds  were.  I  . 
low.     Large  portions  of  the  people,  especially  in  New  (/  i 
England,    continued  to  be  entirely  out  of  sympathy  If  ^ 
with  the  contest,  and  in  some  quarters  where  the  wai^  * 
had  at  first  beeu  popular  it  no  longer  commanded 
enthusiasm,    or  even  willing  support.     The  Madison    / 
Administration,  backed  by  a  diminished  majority  in  ?V 
Congress,    found  itself  more  than  ever  compelled  to  \ 
contend  not  alone  with  the  forces  of  the  enemy  but       1 
with  wide-spread  indifference  and  subtle  opposition  at 
home. 

To  Washington  Webster  came  in  1813  a  thorough-     I 
going    New  Englaud  Federalist,    recognizing  rather    \f 
more    clearly  than  many  New  England  Federalists      j 
were  prone  to  do  the  fundamental  obligations  of  loyal 
citizenship,  but  admitting  no  obligation  to  follow  uu- 
protestiugly  the  lead  of  an  administration  whose  course 
he  believed  to  be  unwarranted  and  indefensible.     His 
ST3Jritjvas  very  much  less  vindictive  than  was  that  of 
the  Federalists  of  his  section  generally.     He  scrupu 
lously  avoidedLjgersonalities,  and  through  all  of  the 
heated  controversies  that  filled  the  later  months  of  the 
war  period  he  contrived  to  remain  on  very  agreeable 
terms  socially  with   all   of  his  opponents,  including 
President  Madison.     But  it  was  by  reason  of  his  per- 


84  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

sonal  diguity  and  fairness,  not  by  niinciug  of  words  ur 
wavering  upon  principle,  that  this  was  made  possible. 
"  Wholly  inexperienced  in  public  affairs,"  he  wrote  1:0 
Timothy  Pickering  shortly  after  his  election,  "  my  first 
object  is  to  comprehend  the  objects,  understand  the 
maxims,  and  imbibe  the" spirit  of  the  first  administra 
tion  ;  persuaded,  as  I  am,  that  the  principles  which 
prevailed  in  the  cabinet  and  councils  of  that  perk  d 
form  the  only  anchorage  in  which  our  political  prosper 
ity  and  safety  can  find  any  hold  in  this  dangerous  and 
stormy  time. "  1 

Webster's  active  legislative  career  was  inaugurated, 
June  10,  1813,  by  the  introduction  of  a  series  of  fh  e 
resolutions  calling  upon  the  President  to  supply  in 
formation  concerning  the  time  and  manner  in  which 
the  repeal  oTthe  Berlin  and[ JVIijan -decrees  had  been 
commuuTcated  to  the  authorities  of  the  United  States.* 
Subsequent  to  £Ee  declaration  of  war,  June  18,  1812, 
there  was  made  public  a  decree  of  the  French  Govern 
ment,  under  date  of  April  28,  1811,  which  purported 
to  repeal  the  measures  mentioned.  It  was  further 
stated  by  the  French  foreign  secretary  that  a  copy  of 
this  decree  had  been  forwarded  without  delay  to  the 
French  minister  at  Washington.  Had  the  President 
and  his  advisers  taken  it  upon  themselves  to  withhold 
this  decree  until  there  should  have  been  a  declaration 
of  war,  in  the  fear  that,  if  the  decree  should  be  made 
public,  the  British  Government  might  be  constrained 
to  rescind  its  orders  in  council,  and  so  to  leave  the 
United  States  with  no  ground  upon  which  to  declare  a 
war?  Or  had  the  Administration  simply  been  duped 
by  the  French  authorities  ?  In  either  case  the  situu- 

1  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.  29-30. 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  3-7. 


IN  CONGRESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    85 

tion  hardly  redounded  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Madison 
and  the  war  party.  Webster  was  not  slow  to  detect 
the  weakness  of  the  Administration's  position,  and  in 
his  resolutions  of  June  10th  he  sought  deliberately  to 
turn  the  search- light  upon  a  situation  whose  laying- 
bare  could  hardly  fail  to  prove  embarrassing  to  those 
who  had  been  responsible  for  the  war.  The  speech  in 
which  the  resolutions  were  explained  and  defended, 
however,  was  characteristically  temperate ;  and,  in 
truth,  throughout  the  acrimonious  debate  which 
ensued  Webster  spoke  but  twice,  and  each  time  but 
briefly.  Calhouu,  leading  in  the  defense  of  the  Ad 
ministration,  was  at  first  inclined  to  suppress  the  pro 
posed  inquiry.  He  found,  however,  that  the  House 
was  in  no  mood  to  countenance  such  a  course,  and,  fol 
lowing  a  debate  which  lasted  intermittently  through  a 
week,  ail  of  the  resolutions  were  adopted  by  over 
whelming  majorities' Sentiment  in  their  favor  grew 
so  rapidly  that  Webster  found  it  superfluous  to  deliver 
a  closing  speech  in  their  defense,  although  he  had 
given  some  time  to  the  preparation  of  such  a  dis 
course.  Webster  and  John  Rhea,  of  Tennessee,  were 
named  as  a  committee  to  present  the  resolutions  to  the 
President.1 

When  the  two  men  appeared  at  the  White  House  in 
fulfilment  of  their  commission  they  found  Mr.  Madi 
son  suffering  from  a  fever  and  were  able  to  obtain  from 
him  only  a  promise  that  in  due  time  the  resolutions 
would  "  be  attended  to."  On  July  12th  a  formal  state 
ment  was  issued  in  the  name  of  the  President  by  Mr. 
Monroe,  Secretary  of  State,  in  which  it  was  affirmed 

1  Text  of  the  resolutions  in  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  13th  Cong., 
1st  sess.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  150-151.  For  the  debate,  see  ibid.,  pp.  170-311, 
patsim. 


86  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

that  the  Government  had  remained  in  ignorance  of  the 
repealing  decree  of  April  28,  1811,  until  July  13, 1812, 
upward  of  a  month  after  the  declaration  of  war.  The 
explanation  was  accompanied  by  an  elaborate  defense 
of  the  Administration's  course  throughout  the  conflict. 
Monroe's  reply  was  referred  forthwith  to  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations  and  five  thousand  copies  were 
ordered  to  be  printed.  On  behalf  of  the  committee 
Calhoun  brought  in  a  report  sustaining  the  Administra 
tion  in  general  and  recommending  the  adoption  of  a 
resolution  specifically  approving  the  conduct  of  the 
Executive  in  relation  to  the  various  subjects  embraced 
in  Webster's  resolutions.  Persistent  effort,  however, 
to  procure  the  approval  of  this  report  failed,  and, 
August  2d,  Congress  adjourned  until  the  regular 
meeting  date  in  December.  In  the  meantime,  foresee 
ing  that  there  would  be  no  early  action  upon  the  sub 
ject,  Webster  had  returned  to  Portsmouth. 

On  the  whole,  the  youthful  statefciman's  first  taste  of 
public  life  had  been  far  from,  disagreeable.  He  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  men  of  note  from  all  sec 
tions  of  the  country.  Without  thrusting  himself  for 
ward  unduly,  he  had  been  instrumental  in  forcing  from 
the  Madison  Administration  the  most  elaborate  defense 
of  its  conduct  that  it  had  as  yet  felt  called  upon  to 
render.  By  the  few  brief  speeches  that  he  had  made 
he  had  added  to  the  reputation  he  had  brought  with 
him  to  Washington  for  both  breadth  of  information  and 
skill  in  debate.  By  his  fellow-partisans  he  was  looked 
upon  as  a  worthy  champion  ;  by  his  opponents,  as  a 
hard-hitting  but  fair-spirited  foeniau.  Life  in  Wash 
ington,  particularly  during  the  summer  months,  he  re 
garded  as  largely  devoid  of  attractiveness,  and,  but  for 
the  consciousness  that  his  position  obligated  him  to  re- 


IN  CONGRESS  FKOM  2sTEW  HAMPSHIRE    87 

main  well  through  the  session,  he  should  have  been 
glad  to  return  to  his  family  and  his  professional  inter 
ests  sooner  than  he  did.  i  i  I  have  been  to  the  levee  or 
drawing- room,"  he  writes  to  Bingham,  "  but  once. 
It  is  a  mere  matter  of  form.  You  make  your  bow  to 
Mrs.  Madison,  and  to  Mr.  M.  if  he  comes  in  your 
way,  but  he  being  there  merely  as  a  guest,  is  not  offi 
cially  entitled  to  your  conge.  Monsieur  Serurier, 
Madame  Bonaparte,  the  Russian  minister,  heads  of  de 
partments,  and  tails  of  departments,  members  of  Con 
gress,  etc.,  etc.,  here  and  there,  interspersed  with  mili 
tary  and  naval  hat  and  coat,  make  up  the  group. 
You  stay  from  five  minutes  to  an  hour,  as  you  please  ; 
eat  and  drink  what  you  can  catch,  without  danger  of 
surfeit,  and  if  you  can  luckily  find  your  hat  and  stick, 
then  take  French  leave  ;  and  that's  going  to  the 
'levee.'"1 

The  return  to  Washington  for  the  regular  session  of 
1813-1814  was  delayed  until  three  weeks  after  the  sit 
tings  had  begun.  Almost  immediately  upon  the  ar 
rival  letters  were  received  giving  information  of  a  dis 
astrous  fire,  December  22d,  whereby  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  town  of  Portsmouth  had  been  swept 
away.  Webster's  own  residence,  recently  purchased 
for  the  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars,  had  been  destroyed, 
together  with  his  library  and  practically  the  whole  of 
his  personal  property.  He  carried  no  insurance,  and 
the  loss  was  absolute.  His  first  thought  was  to  return 
at  once  to  New  Hampshire ;  but  in  communications 
from  his  wife,  and  from  various  friends,  he  was  ad 
vised  that  this  would  be  unnecessary.  Mrs.  Webster 
and  the  two  children,  Grace  and  Daniel  Fletcher  (the 

1  Webster  to  Bingham,  June  4,  1813.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,  "  Vol.  I,  p.  234. 


88  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

son  had  been  born  during  the  previous  summer),  were 
provided  with  shelter  for  the  winter  in  the  home  of 
Mr.  Mason.  Assured,  therefore,  that  all  would  be  well 
with  them,  and  induced  by  the  critical  character  oi 
the  times,  Webster  decided  to  remain  uninterruptedly 
at  Washington. 

One  of  his  iirst  acts  during  the  new  session  was  to 
the  Administration's  recent 


defense  of  the  war.  "  If,"  said  he,  u  its  advocates  can 
show  satisfactorily  that  this  war  was  undertaken  on 
grounds  plainly  and  manifestly  just  ;  if  they  can  show 
that  it  was  necessary  and  unavoidable  ;  that  it  is 
strictly  an  American  war  ;  that  it  rests  solely  on  Amer 
ican  grounds  ;  and  that  it  grew  out  of  a  policy  just  and 
impartial  as  it  related  to  the  belligerents  of  Europe,  — 
if  they  ever  make  all  this  manifest,  the  war  will  change 
its  character.  It  will  then  grow  as  energetic  as  it  now 
is  feeble.  It  will  then  become  the  cause  of  the  people-, 
and  not  the  cause  of  a  party.  The  people  would  then 
maintain  their  own  cause,  with  vigor  and  effect."  ' 
Following  a  short  debate,  January  3,  1814,  the  message 
transmitting  Monroe's  reply  was  referred  to  a  commit 
tee  of  the  whole  and  a  date  was  fixed  for  its  consid 
eration.  The  discussion,  however,  never  took  place. 
Though  leading  to  no  positive  action,  the  resolutions 
of  inquiry  were  adjudged  by  all  parties  to  have  been 
by  no  means  barren  of  effect.  They  had  put  the  Ad- 
m  i  nisjTajtmijiia^^^  and 

had~coinpelled  a  wholesome  inquiry  intojthe  entire 
status  aTiH^Tdspect  of_ttje__\var.  They"  had  won  for 
their  author  a  commanding  place  among  the  opposi 
tion  members  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  And  they 

1  Speech   of   January    ;>>.  1^14.       "  Annals   of   Congress,"    13th 
Cong.,  1st  sess.,  Vol.  I,  p.  &2V. 


IN  CONGRESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    89 

constituted  the  point  of  departure  for  many  a  sub 
sequent  attack  and  argument. 

During  the  early  weeks  of  1814  Webster  participated 
in  debate  with  some  frequency.  On  January  10th  he 
spoke  at  length  against  a  resolution  introduced  by 
Robert  Wright,  of  Maryland,  proposing  to  extend  to 
citizens  generally  the  rules  of  war  relating  to  spies. 
The  object  of  the  measure  was  to  bring  to  an  end  the 
giving  of  aid  to  the  enemy  by  American  citizens,  which 
was  known  to  be  not  uncommon,  especially  on  the 
northern  frontier.  In  a  speech  of  which  we  have  only 
an  epitome  Webster  avowed  that  if  illegal  intercourse 
with  the  enemy  existed  he  would  "go  as  far  as  any 
one  in  applying  constitutional  remedies  to  that  evil." 
The  offenses,  however,  which  the  measure  in  hand  was 
designed  to  reach  were,  he  pointed  out,  already  covered 
by  the  laws  on  the  subject  of  treason,  and  adequate 
penalties  for  the  commission  of  them  ,were  already 
prescribed.  Mr.  Wright's  measure  was  tantamount  to 
a  proposal  to  transfer  the  trial  of  such  offenses  from 
the  ordinary  courts  of  law  to  tribunals  of  a  military 
character.  u  Sir,"  declared  Webster,  "  the  proposition 
strikes  me  as  monstrous.  I  cannot  consent  to  entertain 
the  consideration  of  it  even  for  a  moment.  It  goes  to 
destroy  the  plainest  Constitutional  provisions.  .  .  . 
If  the  proposition  should  pass  into  a  law,  it  takes  away 
the  Constitutional  definition  of  the  offense  of  treason  ;  it 
takes  away  the  prescribed  mode  of  proof ;  it  takes  away 
the  trial  by  jury  ;  it  takes  away  the  civil  tribunal,  and 
establishes  the  military.  On  a  resolution  of  this  sort, 
I  cannot  believe  the  House  will  consent  to  deliberate." 

Despite  the  efforts  of  Webster  and  others,  the  reso- 

1  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  13th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  Vol.  I,  p.  885  ; 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,1'  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  11-13. 


00  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

lution  was  referred,  by  a  majority  of  eleven  votes,  to  a 
committee  of  the  whole  ;  but  it  was  never  reported 
upon  nor  subsequently  discussed.  Of  the  fundamental 
soundness  of  Webster's  position  there  can  be  no  ques 
tion.  That  the  relations  maintained  between  the 
British  and  certain  of  the  American  opponents  of  the 
war  were  exasperating  in  the  extreme  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  Administration,  can  readily  enough  be 
understood.  On  the  American  side,  those  relations 
were  not  infrequently  clearly  treasonable.  But  the 
wholesale  extension  of  martial  law,  upon  this  account, 
to  all  cases  involving  questions  of  the  kind  would  have 
meant,  as  Webster  demonstrated,  not  merely  to  make 
provision  for  what  was  already  sufficiently  provided 
for,  but  flagrantly  to  subvert  the  fundamental  rights 
of  citizenship  as  guaranteed  in  the  Constitution. 

On  the  day  (January  10th)  upon  which  Webster  de 
livered  his  speech  in  opposition  to  the  Wright  resolu 
tion  George  M.  Troup,  of  Georgia,  reported  to  the 
House  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  a  bill 
making  provision  for  the  filling  of  the  ranks  of  the 
regular  army,  encouraging  enlistments  through  the 
payment  of  liberal  bounties,  and  authorizing  the  re- 
enlistment  for  longer  periods  of  men  whose  terms  of 
service  were  about  to  expire.  The  measure  was  re 
ferred  to  the  committee  of  the  whole,  and  three  days 
later  it  was  called  up  for  consideration.  Debate,  which 
turned  at  first  upon  various  details  of  the  bill,  broad 
ened  inevitably  into  a  discussion  of  the  fundamental 
aspects  of  the  war  itself — its  causes,  its  methods,  its 
prospects,  and  particularly  the  policies  pursued  by  the 
government  in  its  administration.  On  January  14th 
Daniel  Shelley,  of  Virginia,  offered  an  amendment  to 
the  engrossed  bill  to  the  effect  that  the  troops  which 


IN  CONGKESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE     91 

should  be  enlisted  under  the  terms  of  the  prospective 
act  should  be  "limited,  as  to  service,  to  the  defense  of 
the  territory  and  frontiers  of  the  United  States. "  The 
purpose  of  the  amendment  was  to  compel  an  abandon 
ment  of  the  projected  invasion  of  Canada  and  to  re 
strict  the  war  on  land  to  operations  of  defense.  The 
earlier  attempts  to  invade  Canada  had  failed  miserably, 
and  on  the  part  of  many  people  there  was  small  desire 
to  witness  their  renewal.  By  the  decisive  vote  of  103 
to  54,  however,  the  Sheffey  amendment  was  rejected. 

At  this  point,  Webster,  who  thus  far  had  partici 
pated  in  the  debate  but  incidentally,  rose  to  deliver  a 
speech  which  easily  surpassed  all  of  his  earlier  efforts 
and  touched,  indeed,  the  high-water  mark  of  his  ora 
tory  during  his  first  period  of  congressional  service. 
Writing  to  Ezekiel  two  weeks  later,  and  enclosing  for 
distribution  in  Salisbury  some  copies  of  the  speech, 
Webster  strongly  maintained  that  the  effort  was  not 
what  it  ought  to  have  been.  "  I  had  not  time,"  he  in 
sists.  "  I  had  no  intention  of  speaking  till  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  delivered  the  thing  about  two.  I 
could  make  it  better,  but  I  dare  say  you  think  it  would 
be  easier  to  make  a  new  one  than  to  mend  it.  It  was 
well  enough  received  at  the  time,  and  our  side  of  the 
house  said  they  would  have  it  in  this  form."  l  The 
subject  was  one  of  which  Webster  was  full,  and,  al 
though  there  was  opportunity  for  but  slight  prepara 
tion  of  the  details  of  the  discourse,  the  speaker's  inter 
est  in,  and  knowledge  of,  all  of  the  questions  pertain 
ing  to  the  war,  combined  with  his  highly  developed 
oratorical  ability,  fitted  him  above  all  men  to  discuss 
instantly  any  phase  of  the  subject  with  force  and  effect. 

1  Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster,  January  30,  1814.  Webster, 
•'Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  239. 


92  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

The  florid  style  which  had  marred  earlier  speeches  had 
iiow  virtually  disappeared  and  in  its  stead  was  sim 
plicity,  directness,  deliberation.  The  speech  was  pro 
fessedly  partisan,  and  in  it  there  was  little  that  was 
new.  But  it  gathered  up  the  arguments  of  the  oppo 
sition,  arrayed  them  in  masterful  fashion,  and  drove 
them  home  with  a  cogency  which  commanded  the  ad 
miration  of  the  least  sympathetic  hearers. 

Beginning  with  an  avowal  of  readiness  to  support 
any  measure  that  could  be  shown  to  be  necessary  for 
the  defense  of  the  country,  Webster  attacked  sharply 
the  Administration's  conduct  of  the  war  and  its  laws 
restrictive  of  commerce,  and  urged  that  henceforthTne 
war  should  be"^Tnade-  one  of  defense  solely,  that  the 
navy  should  be  developed,  and  that  the  proposed  meas 
ure  for  the  enlistment  of  troops,  ^presumably  for  the 
conquest  of  Canada,  should  be  defeated.  The  war  it 
self,  it  was  contended,  was  a  mistake.  Those  who  were 
responsible  for  it  had  never  been  able  to  justify  it.  It 
had  been  rashly  undertaken  and  feebly  prosecuted. 
The  opposition  to  it  was,  and  had  been  from  the  out 
set,  honest,  firm,  and  well  considered.  The  right  of 
those  in  opposition  to  speak,  write,  and  vote  as  their 
consciences  dictated  was  inviolate.  The  war,  being 
supported  by  but  a  party,  could  prove  only  wasteful 
and  inconclusive.  "Badly  as  I  think  of  the  original 
grounds  of  tin*  war,  as  well  as  of  the  manner  in  which 
it  has  been  hitherto  conducted,  if  even  now,  failing  in 
an  honest  and  sincere  attempt  to  procure  just  and  hon 
orable  peace,  it  [the  Government]  will  return  to  meas 
ures  of  defense  and  protection,  such  as  reason  and  com 
mon  sense  mid  the  public  opinion  all  call  for,  my  vote 
shall  not  be  withholden  from  the  means.  Give  up 
your  futile  projects  of  invasion.  Extinguish  the  tires 


IN  CONGRESS  FKOM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    93 

that  blaze  on  your  inland  frontiers.  Establish  perfect 
safety  and  defense  there  by  adequate  force.  Let 
every  man  that  sleeps  on  your  soil  sleep  in  security. 
Stop  the  blood  that  flows  from  the  veins  of  unarmed 
yeomanry  and  women  and  children.  Give  to  the  liv 
ing  time  to  bury  and  lament  their  dead,  in  the  quiet 
ness  of  private  sorrow.  Having  performed  this  work 
of  beneficence  and  mercy  on  your  inland  border,  turn 
and  look  with  the  eye  of  justice  and  compassion  on 
your  vast  population  along  the  coast.  Unclench  the 
iron  grasp  j3jLypur  embargo.  Take  measures  for  that 
end  before  another  sun  sets  upon  you.  With  all  the 
war  of  the  enemy  on  your  commerce,  if  you  would 
cease  to  war  on  it  yourselves,  you  would  still  have 
some  commerce.  That  commerce  would  give  you  some 
revenue.^  Apply  _that  revenue  to  the  augmentation  of 

your  nav y. That  navy,    in  turn,    will  protect  your 

commerce.  Let  it  no  longer  be  said  that  not  one  ship 
of  force,  Hbuilt  by  your  hands  since  the  war,  yet  floats 
upon  the  ocean.  ...  If,  then,  the  war  must  be 
continued,  go  to  the  ocean.  If  you  are  seriously  con 
tending  for  maritime  rights,  go  to  the  theatre  where 
alone  those  rights  can  be  defended.  Thither  every  in 
dication  of  our  fortune  points  you.  There  the  united 
wishes  and  exertions  of  the  nation  will  go  with  you. 
Even  our  party  divisions,  acrimonious  as  they  are, 
cease  at  the  water's  edge.  They  are  lost  in  attachment 
to  national  character  on  the  element  where  that  char 
acter  is  made  respectable.  In  protecting  naval  inter 
ests  by  naval  means,  you  will  arm  yourselves  with  the 
whole  power  of  national  sentiment,  and  may  command 
the  whole  abundance  of  the  national  resources."  ' 

* 

1  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  13th  Cong.,  Istsess.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  950-951 ; 
"  Writings  »ud  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  33-34. 


94  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

Pressure  from  the  opposition,  combined  with  the 
drift  of  circumstances,  coni}^elled  the  Administration 
and  its  supporters,  within  a  brief  period,  to  adopt  the 
course  thus  so  vigorously  marked  out.  The  embargo 
of  December  17,  1813,  against  which  Webster  inveighed 
proved  not  only  ineffective  but  unsupportable.  By  its 
terms  all  foreign  commerce  was  inhibited,  and  likewise 
the  coasting  trade,  even  trade  by  water  between  ports 
of  the  same  state.  Certain  influential  Kepublicaus,  as 
Lowndes  and  Cheves,  had  regarded  the  measure  from 
the  outset  as  impossible  to  enforce,  if  not  otherwise  ob 
jectionable.  Within  a  mouth  it  was  found  necessary  to 
alter  the  law  for  the  relief  of  the  population  of  the 
island  of  Nantucket,  and  on  the  4th  of  April  Calhoun 
was  obliged  to  report  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  a  bill  providing  for  its  complete  and  imme 
diate  repeal.  The  task  of  piloting  the  bill  through  the 
House,  which  fell  to  Calhoun,  was  not  an  enviable 
one,  for  although  there  could  be  little  doubt  as  to  the 
measure's  passage,  a  plausible  defense  of  so  sharp  a  re 
versal  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the  war  party  called  for 
the  exercise  of  unusual  ingenuity.  The  policy  of  re 
striction  was  admitted  frankly  to  have  been  a  failure, 
but  the  reasons  for  the  failure  were  declared  to  lie,  not 
in  the  inherent  ineflicacy  of  restriction  as  a  principle, 
but  rather  in  the  change  of  situation  which  had  taken 
place  in  Europe.  It  was  confessed  that  when  war  was 
once  begun  the  restrictionist  policy  should  have  been 
discontinued.  The  plight  of  the  advocates  of  restric 
tion  was,  at  best,  however,  embarrassing,  and  the  op 
ponents  of  the  system  were  not  unnaturally  exultant. 

Following  Calhoun's  labored,  though  artful,  ex 
planations,  Webster  spoke  at  some  length  in  commen 
dation  of  the  proposed  repeal,  but  deprecating  the 


IX  CONGRESS  FKOM  NEW  HAMPSHIKE    95 

opinion  advanced  by  Calhoun  to  the  effect  that  the 
rescinding  of  the  restrictive  system  should  not  be  al 
lowed  to  affect  the  increased  tariff  rates  established  by 
the  act  of  1812.  Sjaeaking  now,  as  indeed  through 
many  years  to  come,  for  the  commercial  and  ship- 
building  inte'rests  of  jS^^JEngland,^\Vebster  was  quick 
to  raise  his  voice  against  anything  whatsoever  that 
savored  of  an  artificial  restraint  upon  trade.  In  the 
present  speech,  throughout  which  ran  a  vein  of  digui- 
ned  but  pointed  sarcasm,  the  speaker  confessed  to  a 
special  delight  at  being  present  to  participate  in  "  the 
funeral  ceremonies  "  of  the  restrictive  system.  "  The 
embargo  act,  the  non-importation  act,  and  all  the 
crowd  of  additions  and  supplements,  together  with  all 
their  garniture  of  messages,  reports,  and  resolutions, 
are  tumbling  undistinguished  into  one  common  grave. 
But  yesterday  this  policy  had  a  thousand  friends  and 
supporters  ;  to-day  it  is  fallen  and  prostrate,  and  t  few 
so  poor  as  to  do  it  reverence. "  M  Especially  forceful 
was  the  ridicule  which  was  heaped  upon  the  shifting 
and  uncertain  policies,  both  commercial  and  military, 
which  had  characterized  the  Administration's  conduct 
of  the  war.  u  It  would  seem,  however,"  he  concluded, 
"  that  there  is  a  class  of  politicians  to  whose  taste  all 
change  is  suited,  to  whom  whatever  is  unnatural  seems 
wise,  and  all  that  is  violent  appears  great. "  But  at 
no  point,  upon  this  occasion  or  upon  any  other,  did 
Webster  permit  himself  to  descend  to  the  level  of  mere 
invective.  His  power  lay  not  aJone_in_JiLs  oratory, 
but  in  his  fair-mindedness,  his  ^moderation,  and  his 
rigorous  abstention  from  personalities.  Before  the 
Thirteenth  Congress  had  passed  into  history  it  was 

1  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  13th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  Vol.  II,  p.  1971  ; 
'*  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  42. 


96  DAK1EL  WEBtfTKB 

generally  conceded  that  the  House  contained  no  orator 
Avho  was  his  equaLand  no  parliamentarian  who,  in 
agility  and  fairness,  was  his  superior.  Calhouu— 
young,  aggressive,  patriotic — was  perhaps  the  most 
active  member  of  the  body.  But  his  speeches,  com 
pared  with  those  of  Webster,  were  formal,  dry,  and 
spiritless.  The  bill  providing  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Embargo  became  law  April  14th,  and  with  its  enact 
ment  all  direct  restraints  upon  foreign  trade  disap 
peared,  save,  of  course,  in  goods  which  could  be 
styled  enemy's  property. 

Throughout  the  few  remaining  days  of  the  session 
Webster  found  occasion  or  incentive  to  speak  upon  no 
topic  of  first-rate  importance.  By  the  repeal  of  the 
restrictions  upon  trade  he  appears  to  have  felt  that  the 
most  urgent  public  need  of  the  hour  had  been  met, 
On  April  18th  came  the  adjournment,  and  he  returned 
forthwith  to  his  home.  The  four-mouth  sojourn  at  the 
capital  had  been  crowded  with  activity,  and  it  had  set 
the  young  New  Hampshire  member  forward  very  ap 
preciably  in  both  his  public  and  his  professional 
career.  In  addition  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in 
the  House  he  had  opened  during  the  winter  a  practice 
in  the  federal  Supreme  Court  which  was  destined  to  be 
renewed  at  frequent  intervals  throughout  the  next 
thirty-five  years,  and  in  the  course  of  which  he  was 
eventually  to  arrive  at  the  zenith  of  his  profession. 
His  earlier  cases  pertained  principally  to  captures  and 
prizes. 

By  reason  of  the  urgent  necessity  of  further  prepara 
tions  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  Congress  was  sum 
moned  by  the  President  to  meet  in  special  session 
September  19,  1814.  Negotiations  between  the  British 
and  American  commissioners  at  Ghent  had  indeed 


IX  CONGRESS  FKOM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    97 

been  opened,  but  the  outlook  for  peace  was  far  from 
reassuring.  During  the  previous  August  there  had 
occurred  the  sack  of  Washington,  together  with  the 
burning  of  the  capital  and  of  the  President's  mansion, 
and  with  the  collapse  of  the  Napoleonic  power  in 
Europe  it  seemed  not  improbable  that  the  contest  in 
America  had  entered  upon  a  new  and  more  serious 
stage.  In  his  message  of  September  20th  President 
Madison  called  for  an  increase  of  the  regular  army,  a 
reclassification  of  the  militia  for  purposes  of  active 
service,  and  the  voting  of  supplies  adequate  to  meet 
the  enlarged  needs  of  the  country.  The  session,  which 
terminated  only  with  the  expiration  of  the  Thirteenth 
Congress,  March  4,  1815,  was  taken  up  almost  ex 
clusively  with  the  consideration  of  measures  pertain 
ing  to  the  procuring  of  men  or  of  money,  or  of  both, 
for  the  war. 

Webster's  attitude  throughout  was  that  of  an  in- 
dependent  Federalist.  On  most  subjects  he  was  in 
substantial  accord  with  the  majority  of  his  party.  He 
at  no  time,  however,  acknowledged  obligation  to  sup 
port  party  measures  of  which  he  did  not  approve. 
And  in  one  important  matter  he  broke  absolutely  with 
the  more  radical  members  of  his  party  in  his  own 
section  of  the  Union.  With  the  Hartford  Convention 
of  the  winter  of  1814-1815  he  had_nothing  to  dp  ;  and 
he  was  totally  out  of  J>yjnj3>athvjith  both  its  purposes 
and  its  methods.  In  the  autumn  of  1814  the  Federalist 
majority  in  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  procured 
the  appointment  of  twelve  delegates — including  such 
men  of  influence  as  George  Cabot,  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
and  Xathan  Dane — who  were  instructed  to  meet  with 
similarly  appointed  delegates  from  other  Xew  England 
states  for  the  purpose  of  taking  under  consideration 


98  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  grievances  of  New  England  arising  from  the  war 
and  recommending  measures  of  redress.  Twenty-three 
official  delegates  from  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
Rhode  Island,  together  with  four  unofficial  representa 
tives  of  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  met  at  Hart- 
lord,  December  15,  1814,  and  during  the  ensuing 
mouth  worked  out  a  report  in  which  appeared  some  of 
the  principles,  and  even  some  of  the  phraseology,  o! 
the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions  of  1797-1798, 
closing  with  a  series  of  resolutions  and  proposed  con 
stitutional  amendments  which  embodied  a  most  vigor 
ous  assault  upon  the  Administration,  even  if  they  did 
not,  as  many  men  believed,  amount  to  deliberate  sedi 
tion.  Memorials  requesting  the  call  of  such  a  conven 
tion  were  transmitted  from  various  towns  of  Massa 
chusetts  early  in  1814,  but  it  was  not  until  after  Web 
ster  had  returned  to  Washington  for  the  special  session 
that  the  movement  assumed  serif ms  proportions.  To 
the  governor  of  New  Hampshire  he  wrote  advising 
earnestly  against  the  appointment  of  delegates,  and  al 
though  two  of  the  western  counties  of  the  state  took  it 
upon  themselves  to  send  representatives,  the  state  as 
such  had  no  part  in  the  Hartford  enterprise.  Web 
ster's  deep-seated  attachment  to  the  _Unioii_led  hinfTo 
deprecate~any~proj ect  which  Tnvolved  so  much  as  the 
callin'gTn  question^  of  the  nation's  permanence.  His 
familiarity  with  the  ^luafrorraTWasTiington,  further 
more,  encouraged  him  to  expect  an  early  turn  in  af 
fairs  by  which  the  policies  and  measures  to  which  tho 
New  England  opposition  was  most  forcibly  objecting 
would  be  brought  to  an  end. 

The  principal  measures  of  the  new  session  with  which 
Webster  had  something  to  do  were  those  relating  to 
the  laying  of  war  taxes  and  the  establishment  of  a  na- 


IN  CONGBESS  FEOM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    99 

tional  bank.  October  10,  1814— five  days  before  Web 
ster  appeared  in  his  seat — there  was  reported  from  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee  of  the  House  a  series  of 
resolutions  declaring  the  expediency  of  continuing  the 
direct  tax  of  1813  and  of  increasing  it  by  fifty  per 
cent.,  and  likewise  the  desirability  of  increasiDg  va 
rious  existing  indirect  taxes  and  of  laying  a  number  of 
new  ones.  There  ensued  a  spirited  debate,  involving 
discussion  not  merely  of  the  wisdom  of  the  specific 
modifications  which  had  been  recommended  but  also 
the  conduct  of  the  war  and  the  prospects  of  an  honorable 
peace.  On  October  24th,  there  being  uuder  immediate 
consideration  the  question  of  increasing  the  direct  tax 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent. ,  Webster  explained 
at  some  length  his  reasons  for  voting  against  the  meas 
ure.  The  purport  of  the  speech  was  that,  in  view  of 
the  certainty  of  the  bill's  adoption,  he  did  not  feel  him 
self  "under  the  necessity,  either  of  obstructing  the 
passage  of  the  taxes  through  the  House,  or  of  taking 
upon  himself  any  portion  of  the  responsibility  of  lay 
ing  them."  "  It  is  not  put  to  us  who  opposed  the  war 
in  its  origin,  and  have  steadily  reprobated  the  manner 
in  which  it  has  been  prosecuted,  to  say  now  whether  a 
burdensome  system  of  taxes  shall  be  imposed  upon  the 
people  to  replenish  the  exhausted  Treasury.  That  is 
for  those  to  determine  who  have  made  the  taxes  neces 
sary.  Our  votes  are  not  asked  for  now,  any  more  than 
upon  the  declaration  of  hostilities.'' 1  If,  he  continued, 
it  could  be  shown  that  the  Administration's  honest  ef 
forts  for  peace  had  been  frustrated,  that  it  would  ap 
ply  henceforth  its  means  to  "the  first  great  object  of 
all  governments,  the  protection  of  the  people,"  that, 

1  "Annals  of  Congress,"  13th  Cong..  3d  sess.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  459; 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  42. 


100  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

indeed,  it  would  consent  to  carry  on  the  war  in  a  man 
ner  "  agreeable  to  the  common  sense  of  the  commu 
nity,"  he  would  be  willing  to  vote  all  supplies  for 
which  the  occasion  might  call.  In  the  absence  of 
these  assurances,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  seem  to 
lend  his  approval,  as  he  should  do  were  he  to  concur 
in  the  proposed  increase  of  revenues.  In  assuming 
this  position  he  acted,  as  he  seldom  did,  with  the  Fed 
eralists  of  the  extrenier  type.  The  majority  of  his  fel 
low-partisans  voted  for  the  taxes,  which  were  carried. 
During  the  winter  Webster  contributed  to  the  defeat 
of  a  draft  project  designed  by  the  Administration  to 
fill  the  depleted  regiments  of  the  army.  His  speech 
of  December  9th  upon  this  subject,  first  published  only 
recently,1  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  an  exceedingly 
able  defense  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  citizen, 
and  as  late  as  1831  Webster  himself  referred  with  some 
pride  to  the  part  which  he  had  "in  overthrowing  Mr. 
Monroe's  conscription  in  1814."  In  his  own  later 
judgment,  however,  his  most  honorable  and  effective 
service  as  a  congressman  from  New  Hampshire  was 
rendered  in  connection  with  the  establishment  of  the 
second  national  bank  and  the  regeneration  of  the 
nation's  disordered  currency  system.  "My  efforts  in 
regard  to  the  banks  at  different  times  suggested,"  he 
wrote  in  1832,  "and  in  regard  to  the  currency  of  the 
country,  I  think  were  of  some  small  degree  of  utility  to 
the  public.  Other  subjects  were  temporary,  and  what 
ever  was  done  or  said  about  them  has  passed  away,  and 
lost  interest."  a  By  reason  largely  of  Federalist  op- 

1  In  Van  Tyne.  "Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.  56-68; 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  55-69. 

'  Autobiography.  Webster,  "  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  26. 


IN  CONGRESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    101 

position  to  the  renewal  of  its  charter,  the  first  national 
bank,  established  in  1791,  had  passed  out  of  existence 
in  1811.  During  the  war  period  there  was  a  veritable 
craze  for  the  establishment  of  state  banks  and  the  issu 
ing  of  paper  money,  so  that  within  the  brief  space  of 
two  years  (1811-1813;  the  number  of  local  banks  in  the 
country  rose  from  eighty-eight  to  two  hundred  and 
eight.  Some  of  these  institutions  were  securely 
founded,  but  many  were  not.  Sooner  or  later  the 
majority  of  them  were  obliged  to  suspend  specie  pay 
ment,  with  the  consequence  that  all  forms  of  bank 
paper  entered  upon  a  sharp  and  ruinous  depreciation. 
When  the  banks  of  Boston  were  still  paying  specie  on 
demand,  the  notes  of  the  New  York  banks  were  ten 
per  cent,  below  specie  value,  those  of  Philadelphia 
banks  fifteen,  those  of  Baltimore  twenty,  those  of 
Washington  twenty-five.  Everywhere  the  currency 
was  deranged  ;  in  the  West  and  South  its  state  can  be 
described  as  nothing  short  of  chaotic.  Even  the  gov 
ernment  was  obliged  to  accept  its  revenues  in  the  form 
of  depreciated  and  widely  fluctuating  paper.  No 
national  need  was  more  obvious  or  imperative  than 
some  device,  whether  or  not  a  national  bank,  which 
should  exercise  a  steadying  influence  upon  the  cur 
rency,  such  as  at  one  time  had  been  exercised  by 
Hamilton's  bank. 

The  consequence  of  this  situation  was  the  inaugura 
tion  of  a  movement  for  the  establishment  of  a  second 
bank.  As  early  as  April  2,  1814,  it  had  been  proposed 
in  the  House  that  a  committee  should  be  appointed  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  bank,  but 
it  was  not  until  Alexander  J.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania, 
became  President  Madison's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
(October,  1814)  that  the  project  took  definite  form. 


102  DANIEL  WBBSTBE 

Within  a  fortnight  of  his  appointment  to  the  treasury 
portfolio  Dallas  addressed  to  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  a  letter  recommending  a  national  bank  with 
a  capital  of  fifty  million  dollars.  On  October  28, 
1814,  by  a  vote  of  ninety-three  to  fifty-four,  the  House 
resolved  "that  it  is  expedient  to  establish  a  national 
bank  with  branches  in  the  several  states,"  and  in 
structed  a  committee  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  such  an  in 
stitution.  The  resulting  measure,  introduced  Novem 
ber  7th,  failed  in  the  House,  but  a  new  bill,  originated 
in  the  Senate,  was  eventually  passed  by  both  houses. 
This  bill  provided  for  a  bank  with  a  capital  of  thirty 
million  dollars,  of  which  amount  the  United  States 
might  subscribe  one-sixth.  By  reason,  however,  of  the 
restrictions  imposed  upon  the  loans  which  the  bank 
might  make  the  government,  as  well  as  from  other  con 
siderations,  President  Madison,  with  the  approval  of 
Dallas,  vetoed  the  measure,  January  30, 1815.1  Within 
a  week  peace  was  proclaimed,  and  the  question  of  the 
bank  went  over  to  the  next  Congress. 

In  the  House  debates  upon  the  bank  question  Web 
ster  had  an  active  and  an  influential part.  To  him  no 
subject  seemed  of  more  fundamental  importance.  In 
volved  in  it  was  not  merely  the  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war,  but  the  prosperity  of  industry  and  business 
and  the  credit  of  the  nation.  To  the  end  that  there 
might  be  a  general  toning-up  of  the  currency  system 
Webster  advocated  warmly  the  establishment  of  a 
bank,  provided  only  that  the  bank  established  be  one 
of  the  right  description.  There  were  those  in  Con 
gress  who  opposed  tht;  establishment  of  any  bank. 
There  were  those  who  advocated  a  bank  which  should 

1  Richardson,  "Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,"  Vol. 
I,  pp.  555-557, 


IN  CONGEESS  FEOM  NEW  HAMPSHIEE   103 

not  be  obliged  to  restrict  itself  to  the  redemption  of  its 
notes  in  specie.  And  there  were  those  who  desired  a 
bank  which  should  be  compelled  always  to  pay  its 
notes,  upon  demand,  in  specie,  and  which  should  be 
entirely  free  to  determine  its  own  policy  in  respect  to 
the  making  of  loans  to  the  government.  To  the  third 
of  these  groups  Webster  belonged.  "  Throughout  all 
the  debates  on  the  bank  question,"  he  records,  "  I  kept 
steadily  in  view  the  object  of  restoring  the  currency  as 
a  matter  of  the  very  first  importance,  without  which  it 
would  be  impossible  to  establish  any  efficient  system  of 
revenue  and  finance.  The  very  first  step  toward  such 
a  system  is  to  provide  a  safe  medium  of  payment.  I 
opposed,  therefore,  to  the  full  extent  of  my  power, 
every  project  for  a  bank  so  constituted  that  it  might 
issue  irredeemable  paper,  and  thus  drown  and  over 
whelm  us  still  more  completely  in  the  miseries  and 
calamities  of  paper  money.  I  would  agree  to  nothing 
but  a  specie-paying  bank. "  l 

Both  the  House  and  Senate  bills,  as  originally  drawn, 
provided  for  a  paper -money  bank,  and  it  was  against 
this  feature  of  the  two  measures  that  Webster  directed 
most  forcefully  his  opposition.  The  speech  of  Jan 
uary  2,  1815,  on  the  recommitment  of  the  Senate  bill 
was  one  of  the  most  notable  of  his  earlier  efforts.2 
With  clearness,  force,  and  eloquence  he  laid  bare  the 
evils  of  a  paper-money  regime  and  expounded  those 
fundamental  principles  of  public  finance  which  are 
acknowledged  to-day  to  lie  at  the  very  root  of  all 
sound  banking.  It  was  largely  through  his  influence 


1  Memorandum  of  1831,  cited  in  Curtis,  "  Webster,'-  Vol.  I,  p. 
140. 

'"Annals  of  Congress,''  13th  Cong.,  3d  sess.,  pp.  1014-1023; 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  35-47. 


104  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

that  there  were  incorporated  in  the  measure  amend 
ments  taking  from  the  government  the  power  to  force 
loans  from  the  bank  and  to  permit  the  institution  to 
suspend  the  payment  of  specie,  and  not  until  these 
amendments  had  been  secured  was  Webster  willing  to 
give  the  project  his  vote.  u  We  had  a  hard  time,"  he 
writes  to  Ezekiel,  "to  prevent  its  [the  bill's]  passing 
in  its  worst  shape  "  ;  and  again  :  "  A  hundred  of  tin- 
narrowest  chances  alone  saved  us  from  a  complete 
paper-money  system,  in  such  a  form  as  was  calculated 
and  intended  to  transfer  the  odium  of  depreciation 
from  the  government  to  the  bank."  Madison's  veto 
of  the  measure  was  interpreted  by  Webster  avS  indica 
tive  that  the  proposed  bank  was  too  sound  to  suit  the 
Administration.  "The  President  has  negatived  the 
bank  bill,"  lie  writes  to  Ezekiel.  "So  all  our  labor 
is  lost.  .  .  .  What  is  to  be  done  next  nobody  can 
tell."  The  veto  precipitated  a  renewal  of  the  contro 
versy,  but  the  announcement  of  peace  intervened,  and 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1815,  the  Thirteenth  Congress  ex 
pired. 

In  November,  1814,  Webster  was  chosen  to  a  second 
term  as  representative  from  the  Portsmouth  district. 
As  late  as  1831,  he  still  regarded  the  Fourteenth  Con 
gress  as  the  most  talentexU  he  had  known,  and  it  is 
therefore  the  more  worthy  of  being  observed  that  by 
common  consent  Webster  was  recognized  at  the  time 
as  the  Federalist  leader  of  the  House,  even  as  Calhoun 
was  yet  admitted  to  be  the  Administration's  principal 
spokesman  and  parliamentarian.  Most  of  the  abler 
members  of  the  Thirteenth  Congress  reappeared  in  the 
Fourteenth,  and  some  men  of  marked_jib ility  took 
their  seats  for  the  first  time.  Clay,  returned  from 
Europe,  was  again  in  the  Speaker's  chair.  William 


IK  CONGEESS  FEOM  KEW  HAMP8HIEB   105 

Pinkney,  of  Maryland,  indisputable  leader  of  the 
American  bar,  was  present  until,  in  April,  1816,  he 
departed  for  Eussia.  The  men  of  largest  influence  in 
the  House  were  Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  John  Ean- 
dolph,  Pinkney,  and  Lowndes. 

By  the  illness  of  his  daughter  Grace,  Webster  was 
prevented  from,  taking  his  seat  until  February  7,  1816. 
During  the  session,  which  had  begun  on  the  oth  of  the 
previous  December,  the  two  subjects  which  engrossed 
most  attention  were  the  bajik  and  the  tariff.  When 
Webster  arrived  in  Washington  he  found  already 
under  consideration  a  bank  Jbill^  introduced  January 
8th  by  Calhouu,  chairmaiTof  tlie  committee  on  the 
national  currency,  and  following  with  some  closeness  a 
plan  recently  submitted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury.  The  project  as  it  stood  embraced  several  features 
essentially  ic^ntical  with  those  to  which  Webster  had 
taken  exception  in  connection  with  the  bills  of  1814- 
1815.  Plunging  unreservedly  into  the^  fight,  the  Fed 
eralist  leader,  with  the  assistance  of  other  members  of 
like  mind,  secured  once  more  a  reduction  in  volume  of 
the  proposed  capital,  a  restriction  of  the  power  of  the 
government  to  exact  loans,  and — most  important  of  all 
— an  absolute  prohibition  of  the  suspension  of  specie 
payments.  "I  was  at  special  pains,"  he  records, 
'•  to  convince  Congress  and  the  country  that  a  paper 
bank  would  be  ruinous  ;  a  bank  with  an  inordinate 
amount  of  capital,  such  as  fifty  millions,  dangerous  ; 
and  that  all  hope  of  restoring  the  currency  of  the  coun 
try,  even  by  means  of  the  best-conducted  bank,  futile, 
until  the  government  itself  should  execute  existing 
laws,  and  require  payment  of  debts  and  taxes  in  legal 
coin,  or  in  the  paper  of  specie-paying  banks."  Dur 
ing  the  course  of  the  delay  which  had  taken  place 


106  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Webster's  interest  in  the  bank  had,  in  truth,  somewhat 
waned,  and  his  argument  now  was  rather  that  the 
United  States  already  had  a  currency  (gold  and  silvei ) 
as  good  as  any  in  the  world,  and  that  if  the  goverr  - 
ineut  would  but  refuse  to  receive  the  issues  of  noi> 
specie-paying  banks  such  institutions  would  forth  wit.  i 
be  driven  out  of  existence  and  the  currency,  undis 
turbed  by  dex)reciated  paper  issues,  would  right  itself 
automatically.  In  the  end  he  cast  his  vote  against  th  3 
bank  bill,  being  led  to  do  so  more  particularly  by  his 
VX'opposition  to  the  government's  participation  in  tho 
direction  of  the  proposed  institution.  Under  the  lead 
ership  of  Calhouu  and  Clay,  however,  the  friends  of 
the  measure  were  able  to  muster  eighty  votes  in  a  total 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  in  the  House.  The  bill 
was  concurred  in  by  the  Senate  and,  ajyaroved  by  the 
President,  April  10,  1816.  it  became  law$ 

During  its  earlier  years  the  new  bank  was  badly 
managed,  its  stock  became  a  medium  for  violent  spec 
ulation,  and  several  of  the  difficulties  which  had  been 
predicted  were  fully  realized.  Eventually,  however, 
the  institution  got  upon  its  feet,  and  during  its  later 
career  Webster  came  to  be  one  of  its  warmest  defenders. 
Perhaps  the  most  significant  aspect  of  the  bank  con 
troversy,  taken  as  a  whole,  was  a  fundamental  agree 
ment  of  Webster,  Clay,  Calhouu,  and  a  large  portion 
of  their  respective  followings,  regarding  not  only  the 
necessity  of  a  stable  currency  and  the  utility  of  a  na 
tional  bank  to  that  end,  but  the  indubitable  constitu 
tionality  of  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution. 
Under  the  spell  of  the  nationalizing  spirit  of  the  war 
period  South  Carolina  and  Kentucky  were  ready  to 
join  hands  with  New  England  in  the  undertaking  of 
this,  and  many  another,  public  project  which  twenty 


IN  CONGRESS  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE   107 

years  earlier,  and  twenty  years  later,  would  have  been 
pronounced  simply  inadmissible.  To  the  restoration 
of  financial  stability  "Webster  made  further  notable 
contribution  in  1816  through  his  procuring  of  the  pas 
sage  of  resolutions,  approved  by  the  President  April 
30th,  in  accordance  with  which  the  government  re 
quired  all  obligations  due  it  to  be  met  in  coin,  in 
Treasury  notes,  in  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  notes  of  other  specie-paying  banks.1  The 
victory  was  the  more  noteworthy  by  reason  of  the  fact 
that  Calhoun  had  but  just  failed  to  carry  through  the 
House  a  similar  measure. 

On  March  12,  1816,  there  was  introduced  in  the 
House  a  general  tariff  bill,  embodying  substantially 
the  suggestions  offeredHby  Secretary  Dallas  in  his 
notable  report  of  February  12th  preceding.  The  bill 
was  neither  a  party  nor  a  sectional  measure.  It  was 
the  firstjariff  bill  in  our  history  in  which  the  protec 
tion  of  American  industry  was  a  preponderating  con- 
sideration  ;  but  to  most  people  the  defense  of  the 
newlyTisen  manufactures  of  the  war  period  seemed  so 
obviously  the  part  of  wisdom  that  upon  the  principles 
of  the  bill  there  was  but  small  difference  of  opinion. 
Upon  the  details  of  the  measure,  especially  the  rates  of 
duty  to  be  imposed  and  the  period  of  their  application, 
there  was  naturally  some  variation  of  view.  As  re 
ported  by  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  the  bill 
proposed  to  lay  a  duty  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  ad 
valorem  on  all  imports  of  cotton  and  woolen  manu 
factures.  On  motion  of  Clay,  the  rate  on  cottons  was 
increased  to  thirty  per  cent.  Webster  opposed  the 

measure  as  a  whole  and  the  cottons  schedule  in  partic- 

\ 

'See  the  speech  of  April  26,  1816.  "  Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  V,  pp.  48-69. 


108  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ular.  It  was  manifest  that  under  its  operation  ths 
importation  of  East  Indian  cotton  fabrics  would  be  ter 
minated  completely.  The  India  trade,  however,  was  a 
valuable  asset  of  New  England,  and,  although  the  cot 
ton  and  woolen  manufactures  which  were  to  be  accorded 
protection  flourished  principally  in  New  England, 
Webster  represented  as  yet  a  commercial,  ship-building 
constituency  and  in  its  interest  he  felt  obliged  to  vot  3 
against  the  bill.  It  was  his  judgment,  moreover,  that 
the  rates  stipulated  in  the  measure  were  too  high  to  bo 
permanent,  and  that  a  further  evil  that  might  be  ex 
pected  from  the  proposed  system  would  be  its  insta 
bility.  Eecognizing  that  he  was  powerless  to  preveuc 
the  passage  of  a  protective  measure  of  some  kind,  he 
proposed  that  the  duties  on  cottons  be  fixed  at  thirtj 
per  cent,  ad  valorem  for  two  years  only,  from  June  30, 
1816,  at  twenty-five  per  cent,  for  the  next  two  years, 
and  at  twenty  per  cent,  indefinitely  thereafter.  By  a ' 
large  majority  this  proposition  was  concurred  in,  al 
though  before  the  final  passage  of  the  bill  it  was  modi 
fied  to  stipulate  a  twenty-five  per  cent,  duty  for  three 
years  from  the  ensuing  June  30th  and  a  duty  of  twenty 
per  cent,  thereafter. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  session  Webster  partic 
ipated  in  the  shaping  of  a  number  of  measures,  but 
none  of  first-rate  importance.  An  incident  of  some 
momentary  interest  was  John  Randolph's  challenge  to 
a  duel,  arising  from  a  fancied  insult  during  the  course 
of  a  House  debate.  The  challenge  was  declined  with 
dignity  and  ere  long  the  two  men  were  again  upon  the 
best  of  terms.  In  the  proceedings  of  the  second  session 
of  this  congress  Webster's  part  was  still  less  prominent. 
Early  in  the  session  there  occurred  the  death  of  his 
daughter  Grace,  and  after  the  return  to  Washington 


IN  CONGBES8  FBOH  NEW  HAMP8HIEE    108 

his  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  absorbed  the  larger 
portion  of  his  time  and  thought.  February  8, 1817,  he 
voted  for  Calhouu's  bill  setting  aside  as  a  permanent 
fund  for  internal  improvements  the  bonus  of  one  and  a 
half  million  dollars,  together  with  the  dividends,  to  be 
derived  from  the  United  States  Bank.  Upon  both  the 
constitutionality  and  the  expediency  of  the  measure 
Webster  was  in  complete  accord  with  his  South 
Carolinian  colleague,  although  the  bill  was  opposed  by 
no  fewer  than  twenty-three  of  the  Federalist  members 
from  New  England,  and  by  nine  of  the  ten  New  Eng 
land  senators.  Madison's  veto  of  March  3d  did  not 
shake  his  judgment.  He  voted  to  sustain  the  bill  as 
against  the  veto.  But  the  measure  failed  for  want  of  a 
constitutional  majority. 

March  3,  1817,  the  Fourteenth  Congress  expired,  and 
with  it  ended  for  a  period  of  five  years  Webster's 
services  in  public  office. 


CHAPTER  V 

LAW  AND  ORATORY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

DURING  the  course  of  his  second  congressional  term 
Webster  arrived  at  a  decision  to  remove  from  his 
native  state  in  quest  of  a  broader  field  of  < professional 
opportunity.  To  Ezekiel  he  announced  his  purpose  as 
early  as  March,  1816.  Although  but  thirty-four  years 
of  age,  he  stood  already  at  the  head  of  the  New  Hamp 
shire  bar,  and  within  the  circumscribed  sphere  of  his 
earlier  triumphs  there  were  no  more  worlds  to  conquer. 
His  income  of  barely  two  thousand  dollars  a  year  was 
increasingly  inadequate,  and  the  loss  of  almost  the 
whole  of  his  property  in  the  Portsmouth  fire  of  Decem 
ber  22,  1813,  rendered  it  the  more  necessary  that  some 
measure  be  taken  to  advance  his  personal  fortune. 
After  all,  however,  the  principal  propelling  force  was 
a  sober  consciousness  of  powers  yet  unused  and  a  laud- 

«le  ambition  to  press  forward  to  the  topmost  heights 
the  legal  profession.  Various  possible  locations 
were  considered,  principally  New  York,  Albany,  and 
Boston.  At  one  time  New  York  was  all  but  selected. 
"Our  New  England  prosperity  and  importance," 
wrote  Webster  pessimistically  to  Ezekiel,  "  are  pass 
ing  away.  This  is  fact.  The  events  of  the  times,  the 
policy  of  England,  the  consequences  of  our  war,  and 
the  Ghent  Treaty,  have  bereft  us  of  our  commerce,  the 
great  source  of  our  wealth.  Tf  any  great  scenes  are  to 
be  acted  in  this  country  within  the  next  twenty  years 
New  York  is  the  place  in  which  those  scenes  are  to  be 


LAW  AND  OBATOBY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS   111 

viewed."  1  The  ultimate  decision,  none  the  less,  was 
in  favor  of  Boston.  In  the  New  England  metropolis 
Webster  had  already  a  somewhat  extended  acquaint 
ance,  and  the  opportunity  for  professional  promotion 
there  awaiting  men  of  high  ability  was  almost,  if  not 
quite,  as  attractive  as  that  in  New  York.  In  August, 
,1816,  the  removal  was  made  and  the  family  was  settled 
in  a  comfortable  but  unpretentious  house  in  Mt.  Veruon 
Street,  at  the  summit  of  Beacon  Hill,  a  stone's  throw  to 
the  northwest  from  the  State  House. 

So  far  as  appears  from  his  writings,  Webster  had  at 
this  time  noj^bxmght  of  returning  to  public  life.  His 
years  in  Congress  had  been  fall  of  interest  and  profit ; 
but  he  was  still  piim_a^ilv1_aLlawyer,  and  even  during 
his  period  of  service  in  the  House  he  had  divided  his 
time  habitually  between  his  legislative  duties  and  his 
employments  of  a  professional  nature.  WTheu  remov 
ing  to  Boston,  he  expected  to  devote  himself  uninter 
ruptedly  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  in  both  the  courts 
of  Massachusetts  and  the  federal  tribunals  ;  and  so  he 
was  enabled  to  do  during  somewhat  more  than  half  a 
decade.  Success  in  the  new  field  was  instant  audjlat- 
tering.  If,  as  tradition  tells,  there  were  legal  lightsTn 
Boston  who  at  first  were  disposed  to  regard  the  "  \iil- 
lage  "  lawyer  from  New  Hampshire  with  some  conde 
scension,  the  time  soon  came  when  the  greatest  of  them 
were  obliged  to  receive  him  as  an  equal.  There  had 
not  yet  come  into  his  countenance  that  striking,  even 
awe-inspiring,  appearance  of  solemn  majesty  which  in 
later  years  transfixed  men  who  gazed  upon  him.  But 
even  now  his  presence  was  such  that,  by  all  accounts, 
when  he  so  much  as  entered  a  room  every  eye  was 

1  Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster,  March  26,  1816.  Webster,  "  Pri 
vate  Correspondence, ' '  Vol.  I,  p.  256. 


112  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

riveted  upon  him  and  voices  were  hushed.  His  frienc  s 
and  associates  in  the  new  home  soon  comprised  not 
simply  the  leaders  of  his  own  profession  but  men  of  the 
highest  standing  in  all  callings.  Business  crowded 
in  upon  him,  and  within  a  year  his  income  had  been 
increased  to  upward  of  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Side-lights  afforded  by  the  testimony  of  various 
persons  who  in  this  period  had  the  privilege  of  know 
ing  the  Websters  somewhat  intimately  reveal  a  picture 
of  splendid  domestic  felicity  and  professioua][prosperity 
— an  epitome  of  substantial  but  unostentatious  Ne  v 
England  town  life  at  its  best.  In  no  period  of  his 
career,  probably,  was  Webster  a  busier  man.  He  rose 
early  and  as  a  rule  disposed  of  a  goodly  amount  of 
work  before  other  people  had  set  about  the  duties  of 
the  day.  In  the  midst  of  the  preparation  of  argu 
ments  and  the  multiplied  exactions  of  a  lawyer's  life 
he  kept  up  his  study  of  the  more  difficult  phases  of  the 
law  and  gave  no  inconsiderable  amount  of  time  to  the 
reading  of  books,  documents,  and  periodicals  relating 
to  the  politics  of  Europe,  especially  of  Great  Britain. 
The  day  was  crowded  with  toil ;  the  evening,  as  a 
rule,  was  devoted  to  rest,  recreation,  and  the  amenities 
of  family  life.  "After  dinner,"  writes  an  intimate 
acquaintance  of  the  family,  a  Mr.  Webster  would 
throw  himself  upon  the  sofa,  and  then  was  seen  the 
truly  electrical  attraction  of  his  character.  Every 
person  in  the  room  was  drawn  immediately  into  his 
sphere.  The  children  squeezing  themselves  into  all 
possible  places  and  postures  upon  the  sofa,  in  order  to 
be  close  to  him  ;  Mrs.  Webster  sitting  by  his  side,  aod 
the  friend  in  the  house  or  social  visitor,  only  too  happy 
to  join  in  the  circle.  All  this  was  not  from  invitation 
to  the  children  ;  he  did  nothing  to  amuse  them  ;  he 


LAW  AND  ORATORY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  113 

told  them  no  stories.  It  was  the  irresistible  attraction 
of  his  character,  the  charm  of  his  illumined  counte 
nance,  from,  which  beamed  indulgence  and  kindness  to 
every  one  of  his  family.77  1 

Within  a  twelvemonth  after  the  settlement  at  Boston 
Webster  was  drawn  into  the  most  notable  piece  of  liti 
gation  with  which  he  had~as~~yet  had  connection.  ^En 
the  ripening  of  his  own  legal  talent,  in  the  develop 
ment  of  the  facilities  of  higher  education,  and  in  the 
shaping  of  the  constitutional  law  of  the  United  States, 
the  Dartmouth  College  case  was  alike  of  prime  im 
portance.  The  history  of  the  "  college  causes  "  which 
centred  about  the  case  of  Dartmouth  College _vs.  Wood 
ward  is  too  extended  to  be  related  in  detail  here.  The 
controversy  sprang  originally  from  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  an  element  in  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  col 
lege  to  drive  John  Wheelock  from  the  presidency,  or, 
in  any  event,  to  curb  the  influence  of  the  "  Wheelock 
dynasty  "  in  the  affairs  of  the  college.  By  the  terms 
of  its  charter,  conferred  by  the  crown  in  1769,  the  col 
lege  was  created  a  perpetual  corporation,  Dr.  Eleazer 
Wheelock  was  appointed  president,  with  power  to  des 
ignate  his  successor,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
trustees,  and  the  trustees  were  authorized  to  make 
laws  and  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the  college, 
with  power  to  fill  vacancies  in  their  own  body.  In 
1779  John  Wheelock,  under  provision  of  the  will  of 
his  father,  succeeded  to  the  presidency.  As  early  as 
1793  there  developed  a  certain  amount  of  friction  be 
tween  the  president  and  some  of  the  trustees,  and  in 
1809  the  enemies  of  Wheelock  secured  a  majority  of 
the  board,  enabling  them  to  tie  the  hands  of  the  pres 
ident  and  to  exclude  from  the  government  of  the  col- 
1  Quoted  in  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  161. 


114  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

lege  men  known  to  be  friends  of  the  Wheelock  regime. 
For  a  time  the  conflict  was  kept  under  cover,  but  i  i 
1815  the  Wheelock  forces  published  a-  brochure  i:i 
which  their  grievances  were  thoroughly  aired,  and  in 
stantly  there  ensued  a  campaign  of  pamphleteering  and 
recrimination  which  attracted  much  attention.  Whee 
lock,  contemplating  legal  proceedings,  secured  from 
Webster  a  promise  of  professional  assistance  ;  and 
when,  at  his  own  request,  a  committee  of  the  legisla 
ture  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  charges  brought 
by  him  against  the  trustees,  he  requested  Webster  to 
appear  in  his  behalf  before  the  committee.  On  the 
pretext  of  absorption  in  business,  Webster  neglected  to 
appear,  whereat  some  of  the  partisans  of  Wheelock 
took  serious,  and  perhaps  ID  a  measure  justifiable,  of 
feuse.  The  truth  is  that  Webster  entertained  doubts 
as  to  the  strength  of  the  president's  case  and  preferred 
for  the  present  to  keep  clear  of  it.  Eventually  he 
abandoned  Wheelock  altogether. 

In  1815  the  trustees  summarily  dismissed  Wheelock 
from  the  presidencj7  and  appointed  in  his  stead  the 
Reverend  Francis  Brown.  The  "college  question" 
became  forthwith  the  principal  interest  of  the  state. 
The  trustees  were  Federalist  in  politics  and  Congrega 
tional  in  religion,  with  the  consequence  that  all 
Democrats,  all  members  of  sects  other  than  Congrega 
tional  (Wheelock  himself  was  a  Presbyterian),  and  all 
independent  spirits  generally  were  easily  induced  to 
join  in  a  crusade  to  break  the  grasp  which  Federalist 
Congregationalism  had  hitherto  maintained  upon  the 
affairs  of  the  college.  At  the  spring  elections  of  1816, 
with  the  college  question  as  a  preponderating  issue,  the 
Democrats  swept  the  state,  electing  both  a  Democratic 
legislature  and  William  Plumer,  a  former  Federalist 


LAW  AND  OBATOKY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  115 

but  now  the  Democratic  candidate,  as  governor. 
Wheelock  and  his  adherents  went  over  bodily  to  the 
triumphant  party.  The  victory  was  fallowed  up,  on 
June  27,  1816,  by  the  enactment  of  a  measure  sub 
mitted  by  Plumer  changing  the  corporate  name  of  the 
institution  from  "  The  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  " 
to  "The  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  University,"  increas 
ing  the  number  of  the  trustees,  vesting  the  appoint 
ment  of  some  of  them  in  the  governor  and  council, 
and  in  other  ways  altering  fundamentally  the  nature  of 
the  original  corporation,  to  the  end  that  the  college 
might  be  converted  into  a  liberal  institution  after  the 
model  of  Jefferson's  University  of  Virginia.  The  old 
board  refused  absolutely  to  yield  to  the  new  one. 
Judge  William  H.  Woodward,  its  secretary,  was  ex 
pelled  from  his  office  by  reason  of  his  having  accepted  a 
similar  position  with  the  new  board,  and  suit  was 
brought  against  him  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state 
to  recover  possession  of  the  college  seal  and  other  ef 
fects  of  the  corporation. 

In  the  first  argument  of  the  case,  in  May,  1817,  the 
college,  i.  e.,  the  old  board,  was  represented  by  Jere 
miah  Mason  and  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith,  two  of  the 
ablest  lawyers  of  the  day,  while  the  interests  of  Wood 
ward  and  the  recently  created  board  were  entrusted  to 
Ichabod  Bartlett  and  the  attorney -general  of  the  state, 
George  Sullivan,  who  likewise  were  hard  fighters  and 
ingenious  advocates.  The  case  was  postponed  to  the 
September  session,  at  Exeter,  and  at  the  second  argu 
ing — affirmed  by  one  writer  to  have  been  the  sharpest 
intellectual  contest  which  ever  took  place  in  a  New 
Hampshire  court1 — it  fell  to  Webster  to  cooperate 
with  Mason  and  Smith  in  the  defense  of  the  college. 
1  McCall,  "  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  23. 


116  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

A  two-hour  speech  (unreported),  closing  for  the  plain 
tiff,  exhibited  many  of  the  qualities  which  reappeared 
in  yet  more  striking  fashion  in  the  effort  of  the  next 
year  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington.  The 
judgment  of  the  court,  however,  sustained  the  consti 
tutionality  and  validity  of  the  act  of  1816  without 
reserve,  and  was  therefore  adverse  to  the  claims  of  thft 
college  upon  every  point.  The  charter  was  declared 
to  have  created  a  public  corporation,  established  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  public  education  ;  hence,  not 
being  a  contract  with  individuals,  it  must  be  regarded 
as  at  the  entire  disposition  ultimately,  in  the  public 
interest,  of  the  legislature  of  the  state. 

It  having  been  determined  to  continue  the  fight,  the. 
case  was  carried,  on  a  writ  of  erroi\_to  the  ..Supremo 
Court_of  _the  United  States.  The  claiuvupon  which  the 
appeal  was  based  was  that  the  statute  of  JuuejJL816. 
had  so  altered  the jchaja£ter-pl _tke__fiollege  corporatioi  i 
as  JiLJjai^-CDmiuii^e^^nJjnpairment  of  the_obligation 
of  a  contract,  .involving  the  exercise  of  a  power  which 
ihe  Federal  Constitution  plainly  withholds  from  the 
legislatures  of  the  states.  In  the  consideration  of  the 
case  in  the  New  Hampshire  court  this  point  had  re 
ceived  little  emphasis.  It  had  been  mentioned,  but  the 
arguments  of  Mason,  Smith,  and  Webster  had  run 
along  other  lines,  to  the  effect,  chiefly,  that  in  the  act 
of  1816  the  legislature  of  the  state  had  transcended  not 
merely  the  normal  scope  of  legislative  power  but  also 
the  positive  limitations  imposed  upon  such  power  by 
the  constitution  of  the  state.  So  keenly  did  Webster 
regret  the  necessity  of  resting  the  college's  case  upon 
the  purely  constitutional  issue  in  relation  to  the  im 
pairment  of  contracts  that  he  instigated  the  devising  of 
cognate  cases  covering  other  aspects  of  the  situation,  in 


LAW  AND  OEATOEY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  117 

the  hope  that  these  cases,  after  having  beeii  pushed 
through  the  courts  of  the  state,  should  be  carried  to 
the  supreme  federal  tribunal,  so  that  they  in  time 
might  be  made  the  means  of  a  victory  for  the  college 
over  its  adversaries.  It  was  destined  to  come  about 
that  before  any  of  these  cognate  causes  could  be  made 
to  yield  results  the  immediate  case  had  been  argued 
and  decided,  and  the  college  had  won  the  most  signal 
of  victories  upon  the  fundamental  issue  of  the  impair 
ment  of  contracts.  Despised  as  was  this  issuejay  all  of 
the  college's  attorneys,  Webster  included,  it  was 
squarely  upon  it,  and  upon  nothing"else,  that  John 
Marshall  and  his  colleagues  in  1819  based  their  famous 
decision  ;  and  the  principal  importance  of  that  decision 
arose  from  the  solemn  proclamation  which  it  accord  - 
jot^^ 


sions  ofjhe  constitution  and  the  tranaceudaiit  powerpf 
the  federal  government.  "  If,"  as  has  been  suggested, 
"  the  whole  cause  had  been  subject  to  review,  it  might 
well  have  been  decided  upon  one  of  the  other  grounds, 
and  thus  it  would  not  have  become  one  of  the  great 
landmarks  of  constitutional  history."  l 

When  it  became  known  that  neither  Mason  nor 
Smith  was  able,  or  willing,  to  assume  the  conduct  of 
the  college's  case  before  the  Supreme  Court,  the  task, 
by  the  common  consent  of  those  interested,  was  en 
trusted  to  Webster.  As  late  as  September  4,  1817,  he 
writes  to  Mason,  however,  that  he  "has  not  thought 
of  the  subject,  nor  made  the  least  preparation,  "  and 
that  he  is  "  willing  to  be  considered  as  belonging  to 
the  cause  and  to  talk  about  it,  and  consult  about  it, 
but  should  do  no  good  by  undertaking  an  argument.  " 
November  27th  he  writes  that  he  has  "engaged  to 

1  McCall,  "Dauiel  Webster,"  p.  25. 


118  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

keep  bold  "  of  the  case  in  the  event  that  he  should  go 
to  Washington  during  the  winter,  and  that  if  the  man 
agement  of  the  case  should  fall  to  him  he  should  ex 
pect   to  make  liberal  use  of  the  briefs  prepared  by 
Mason  and  Smith  upon  the  subject.     December  8th  ho 
writes  to  Smith  :  "  If  I  argue  this  cause  at  Washing 
ton,  every  one  knows  I  can  only  be  the  reciter  of  the 
argument  made  by  you  at  Exeter.     You  are,  therefore 
principally  interested,  as  to  the  matter  of  reputation 
in  the  figure  I  make  at  Washington.     Nothing  will  bt 
expected  of  me  but  decent  delivery  of  your  matter." 
During  the  winter  months  preparation  for  the    han 
dliug  of  the  case  was  pushed,  when  other  and  exacting 
duties  permitted.     Liberal  use  was  made  of  the  briefs, 
and  of  the  occasional  advice,  of  Mason  and  Smith,  and 
in  the  substance  of  the  argument  which  was  put  in  shape 
there  was,  as  Webster  was  the  first  to  affirm,  little  or 
nothing  that  was  original.    Here,  as  upon  many  another 
occasion,  the  skill  of  the  man  displayed  itself  peculiarly 
in  the  selection  and  adaptation  of  contributions  made 
by  other  minds.     His  own  personal  contribution  was 
to  be  oratorical,  rather  than  strictly  legal. 

As  associate  counsel  Webster  selected  a  close  per 
sonal  friend,  Joseph  Hopkiuson,  an  old-school  lawyer 
of  Philadelphia  whose  practice  in  the  federal  courts 
was  extended.  The  case  for  the  state  fell  into  hands 
rather  less  capable  than  those  of  Bartlett  and  Sullivan. 
The  attorneys  whom  Webster  and  Hopkiusou  were 
called  upon  to  meet  were  John  Holmes,  of  Maine,  and 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  William 
Wirt.  Holmes  was  an  influential  Democratic  poli 
tician,  but  an  indifferent  lawyer.  Wirt  was  a  man  of 

1  Webster  to  Smith,  December  8,  1817.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  268. 


LAW  AND  OKATOKY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  119 

distinction  and  of  unquestioned  ability ;  but  at  the 
present  juncture  he  was  so  preoccupied  with  other 
business  that  he  quite  neglected  to  prepare  for  the 
Dartmouth  case,  and  when  he  appeared  in  it  he  made 
a  rather  pitiable  showing.  If,  however,  his  opponents 
were  not  formidable,  the  task  which  Webster  had  as 
sumed  was,  none  the  less,  by  no  means  an  easy  one. 
He  must  bring  the  Supreme  Court  to  a  decision  adverse 
to  that  just  rendered  by  the  highest  tribunal  of  New 
Hampshire — a  judgment  which  he  had  himself  been 
obliged  to  admit  was  "able,  plausible,  and  ingenious. " 
He  must  accomplish  this,  furthermore,  by  the  employ 
ment  of  a  course  of  reasoning  (respecting  the  impair 
ment  of  contracts)  in  which  he  had  not  hitherto  placed 
great  faith  ;  and  it  was  the  judgment  of  many  disin 
terested  members  of  the  bar  that  he  had  insufficient 
ground  upon  which  to  build  a  successful  plea. 

The  argument  of  the  case,  opened  March  10,  1818, 
occupied  upward  of  three  days.  By  reason  of  the 
fact  that  the  Capitol  had  not  yet  been  rebuilt,  the  sit 
tings  of  the  Court  were  held  in  a  small  and  ill-adapted 
apartment.  Audiences  were  therefore  meagre,  al 
though  upon  this  occasion  they  were  select,  being  com 
posed  principally  of  men  of  the  legal  profession  who 
had  been  attracted,  in  some  instances  from  considerable 
distances,  by  the  fame  of  the  case  and  of  the  advocates. 
The  case  was  opened  by  Webster.  According  to  Dr. 
Chauncey  A.  Goodrich,  a  Yale  professor,  who  was 
present  upon  the  occasion,  Webster  entered  upon  his 
argument  in  a  tone  of  easy  and  dignified  conversation. 
"His  matter  was  so  completely  at  his  command  that 
he  scarcely  looked  at  his  brief,  but  went  on  for  more 
than  four  hours  with  a  statement  so  luminous,  and  a 
chain  of  reasoning  so  easy  to  be  understood,  and  yet 


120  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

approaching  so  nearly  to  absolute  demonstration,  that 
he  seemed  to  carry  with  him  every  man  of  his  audience 
without  the  slightest  effort  or  uneasiness  on  either  side. 
It  was  hardly  eloquence  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term  ; 
it  was  pure  reason.  Now  and  then,  for  a  sentence  or 
two,  his  eye  flashed  and  his  voice  swelled  into  a 
bolder  note,  as  he  uttered  some  emphatic  thought  j  but 
he  instantly  fell  back  into  the  tone  of  earnest  conver 
sation  which  ran  throughout  the  great  body  of  the 
speech.7'1 

Complete  mastery  of  the_law_jind_facts,  remarkable 
simplicity  and  "cogency  in  the  elaboration  of  his  argu- 
ment^  profound  and  even  passionate  devotion  to  his 
client — these  were  Webster's  principal  assets  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  cause.  Nowhere  has  his  speech  been 
preserved  in  full.  An  abridged  revision  of  it  was  in 
corporated  in  the  Supreme  Court  reports,  and  this  is 
the  document  which  has  found  a  place  in  the  published 
editions  of  Webster's  writings.  But,  as  Webster  him 
self  one  time  observed,  in  the  printed  document 
"something  was  left  out,"  that  "something"  com 
prising,  indeed,  a  wealth  of  oratorical  outburst  and  of 
passionate  appeal  which  the  reporter  adjudged  to  have 
no  place  in  the  dry  and  sober  synopsis  of  constitutional 
argument  contained  within  the  formal  record.  The 
essential  points  in  the  argument,  buttressed  by  varied 
allusion  to  precedent,  and  by  close  and  convincing 
reasoning,  may  be  summarized  thus :  (1)  the  charter 
ofj-  769jpreatedji  prryjite>_and  not  a  public,  Corpora  - 
tiou,  to  administer  a  charity,  in  the  administration  of 
which  the  twelve  trustees  had  a  property,  recognized 
by  law  ;  (2)  the  grant  of  such  a  charter  constitutes  a 
contract  between  the  grantor  and  successors,  on  the  one 
1  Quoted  in  Curtis,  "  Webster,''  Vol.  I,  p.  169. 


LAW  AND  OEATOBY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  121 

hand,  and  the  grantee  and  successors,  on  the  other  ; 
and  (3)  the  legislation  o£  j.816x_by__which  was  taken 
from  the  trustees  the  right  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
visitation  and  government,  and  by_whi_ch_jthis  right 
was  conferred  upon  another  body  of  men^comprised 
an  impairment^  contract,  within  the  meaning  o:f  Uie 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  was  therefore 
null  and  void..  Thejudgment  ofthlTstate  court  of  New 
Hampshire,  it  should  be  observed,  had  been  rendered 
on  the  ground  that  the  college  was  a  public  corporation, 
and  that  in  respect  to  corporations  of  a  public  charac 
ter  there  is  no  contract  or  agreement  which  the  state 
may  not  regulate. 

For  his  arguments  of  a  purely  legal  nature  upon 
these  matters  Webster  relied  almost  wholly  upon  the 
briefs  and  the  opinions  of  Mason  and  Smith.  Even 
here,  however,  he  was  far  more  than  "  a  mere  reciter," 
for  he  welded  together  the  material  supplied  by  his 
elders,  supplemented  it  from  the  resources  of  his  own 
learning,  and  poured  forth  the  whole  in  a  flood  of 
surpassing  eloquence  which  invested  the  subject  with 
interest  and  meaning  undreamed  of  by  those  whose 
knowledge  of  the  case  was  more  academic.  Nor  did 
the  speaker  content  himself  with  precedents  and  logic. 
He  did  not  scruple  to  appeal  with  all  the  power  that 
was  in  him  to  the  emotions,  and  even  to  the  political 
susceptibilities,  of  his  hearers,  and  especially  of  the 
members  of  the  Court.  Of  the  seven  j  ustices,  two — 
Marshall  and  Washington — Webster  was  confident 
he  could  carry  with  him  ;  two  others — Todd  and 
Duvall — he  could  hardly  expect  to  move  ;  the  remain 
ing  three — Story,  Livingston,  and  Johnson — were  not 
at  the  outset  favorably  inclined,  but  might  be  won 
over.  One  stroke  Webster  conceived  to  be  of  the 


122  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

greatest  strategic  importance,  namely,  to  arouse  the 
political  feelings  of  the  Chief  Justice  and  to  enlist 
his  sympathy  for  the  college  as  a  surviving  but 
sorely  beset  bulwark  of  Federalism.  To  this  end 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  speech  was  deliberately 
devoted ;  and  with  such  consummate  art  was  the 
appeal  made  that  it  is  commonly  believed  that, 
had  it  been  necessary,  Marshall  would  probably  have 
brought  about  a  decision  in  the  college's  favor  by 
the  sheer  force  of  his  dominating  influence  within  the 
Court.1 

The  peroration  of  the  Dartmouth  College  speech  and 
the  scene  attending  it,  as  described  by  eye-witnesses, 
have  hardly  been  paralleled  in  the  history  of  modern 
oratory.  The  formal  argument  ended,  Webster  paused 
some  seconds  while  every  eye  was  riveted  upon  him 
and  the  silence  became  almost  oppressive.  "  This, 
sir, "  he  concluded,  "  is  my  case.  It  is  the  case  not 
merely  of  that  humble  institution,  it  is  the  case  of 
every  college  in  our  laud.  It  is  the  case  of  every 
eleemosynary  institution  throughout  our  country — of 
all  those  great  charities  founded  by  the  piety  of  our 
ancestors,  to  alleviate  human  misery  and  scatter  bless 
ings  along  the  pathway  of  life.  .  .  .  Sir,  you  may 
destroy  this  little  institution  ;  it  is  weak  ;  it  is  in  your 
hands  !  I  know  it  is  one  of  the  lesser  lights  in  the 
literary  horizon  of  our  country.  You  may  put  it  out. 
But,  if  you  do  so,  you  must  carry  through  your  work  ! 
You  must  extinguish,  one  after  another,  all  those 
greater  lights  of  science  which,  for  more  than  a  cen 
tury,  have  thrown  their  radiance  over  our  land  !  It  is, 
sir,  as  I  have  said,  a  small  college.  And  yet  there  are 
those  who  love  it- 

1  Lodge,  "Webster,"  p.  89. 


LAW  AND  ORATORY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  123 

At  this  point,  as  the  episode  is  described  by  Dr. 
Goodrich,  the  emotion  which  the  speaker  had  so  far 
succeeded  in  holding  in  restraint  broke  forth.  His 
lips  quivered,  his  cheeks  trembled,  his  voice  choked, 
and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears.  In  words  of  exquisite 
tenderness  he  continued,  in  broken  voice,  to  express  his 
personal  anxiety  for  the  college.  "  The  whole/'  says 
Dr.  Goodrich,  "  seemed  to  be  mingled  throughout  with 
the  recollections  of  father,  mother,  brother,  and  all  the 
privations  and  trials  through  which  he  had  made  his 
way  in  life.  Every  one  saw  that  it  was  wholly  un 
premeditated,  a  pressure  on  his  heart,  which  sought 
relief  in  words  and  tears.  The  court-room  during 
these  two  or  three  minutes  presented  an  extraordinary 
spectacle.  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  with  his  tall  and 
gaunt  figure  bent  over,  as  if  to  catch  the  slightest 
whisper,  the  deep  furrows  of  his  cheek  expanded  with 
emotion,  and  his  eyes  suffused  with  tears  ;  Mr.  Justice 
Washington  at  his  side,  with  his  small  and  emaciated 
frame  and  countenance  more  like  marble  than  I  ever 
saw  on  any  other  human  being — leaning  forward  with 
an  eager,  troubled  look  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the 
court,  at  the  two  extremities,  pressing,  as  it  were, 
toward  a  single  point,  while  the  audience  below  were 
wrapping  themselves  round  in  closer  folds  beneath  the 
bench,  to  catch  each  look  and  every  movement  of  the 
speaker's  face."  Recovering  his  composure  and  fix 
ing  his  eye  upon  the  Chief  Justice,  Webster  drew 
himself  up  to  his  full  height  and  in  the  tone  of  majesty 
with  which  he  sometimes  thrilled  an  audience  declared  : 
"  Sir,  I  know  not  how  others  may  feel,  but,  for  myself, 
when  I  see  my  Alma  Mater  surrounded,  like  Caesar  in 
the  senate-house,  by  those  who  are  reiterating  stab  after 
stab,  I  would  not,  for  this  right  hand,  have  her  turn  to 


124  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

me,  and  say,  Et  tu  quoque  mi  Jill !  And  thou  too,  my 
son  !  "  l 

During  the  ensuing  days  the  case  was  argued  further 
by  the  opposing  counsel,  Holmes  and  Wirt,  and  by 
Webster's  associate,  Hopkiuson.  The  substance  of  the 
opposition's  contention  was  (1)  that  the  charter  wa>; 
not  a  "contract ;  (2)  that  all  corporations  were  ter 
minated  by  the  Revolution  ;  (3)  that  the  charter,  if  si 
contract,  had  not  been  impaired ;  and  (4)  that,  both 
parties  belonging  to  the  same  state,  the  Supreme  Court 
lacked  jurisdiction.  Holmes' s  speech  Webster  pro 
nounced  "  three  hours  of  the  merest  stuff  that  was  ever 
uttered  in  a  county  court."  Of  Wirt's  effort  he  had  a 
higher  opinion,  although  he  was  unable  to  see  that  the 
Attorney -General  brought  forward  an  iota  of  either 
new  matter  or  new  reasoning.  ' '  I  believe, ' '  wrote  Web  - 
ster  to  Mason  on  the  day  after  the  closing  of  the  hear 
ing,  "I  may  say  that  nearly  or  quite  all  the  bar  are 
with  us.  How  the  court  will  be  I  have  no  means  of 
knowing. "  A  day  later  he  wrote  to  Smith  :  "I  think 
we  shall  finally  succeed." 

On  the  morning  of  March  13th  the  Chief  Justice  an 
nounced  that  the  Court  had  conferred,  that  there  were 
differing  opinions,  that  some  of  the  justices  had  not 
formed  opinions,  and  that,  accordingly,  a  decision 
would  not  be  immediately  forthcoming.  The  following 
day  the  Court  adjourned.  During  the  several  months 
which  intervened  before  the  opening  of  a  new  term 
there  was  carried  on  by  the  counsel  and  friends  of  the 
college  an  adroit  campaign  for  the  conversion  of  those 

1  Quoted   in    Curtis,    ''  Webster."    Vol.    I,    pp.    169-171.      The 
speech   is  printed  in  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  462-501, 
and  u  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  194-233. 

2  Webster  to  Mason,  March   13,  1818.     Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,  "  Vol.  I,  p.  276. 


LAW  AND  ORATORY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  126 

members  of  the  Court — Livingston,  Johnson,  and 
Story — who  were  believed  to  be  wavering  in  their 
opinion.  The  state,  at  the  same  time,  prepared  for  a 
renewal  of  the  contest  and  engaged  as  counsel  William 
Pinkney,  acknowledged  leader  of  the  American  bar. 
When  the  Court  convened,  however,  the  Chief  Justice 
brushed  aside  all  preparations  for  a  rehearing  of  the 
case  and  announced  forthwith  that  a  decision  had  been 
arrived  at.  The ;  judgment^ wjnc^uMaiyha.11  then  made 
public,  February,  1819?  takes  J^ank  among  the  most 
far-reaching  and  influential  in  American  history.  The 
college  _cha^ter,  it  wa^  heldf  was  a  contract;  the  acts 
of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature^onstituted^an  im- 
pairment_o^  it,  in  the  meaning  otnSe  Constitution  oF 
the  United  States ;  these_asiajgere,  accordingly,,  void. 
The  argumentsjjf^  Webster  were  sustained  at  every 
point.  The  Chief  Justice  and  four  associates  supported 
the~opinion  ;  one  justice,  Todd,  was  absent ;  only  one, 
Duvall,  dissented.  Even  Story,  who  had  accepted 
membership  on  the  opposition  board  of  trustees, 
acquiesced  in  the  majority  opinion.  At  a  single  point 
only  had  the  Supreme  Court  passed  hitherto  upon  the 
meaning  and  scope  of  the  constitutional  provision 
relating  to  contracts.  It  had  been  ruled  that  a  grant 
of  land  made  by  a  state  constituted  a  contract  whose 
obligation  it  was  beyond  the  competence  of  the  state  to 
impair.  By  the  Dartmouth  College  decision,  however, 
there  was  brought  within  the  scope  of  the  constitutional 
guarantee,  by  implication,  every  charter  and  similar 
instrument  conferred  within  a  state.  The  independ 
ence  of  the  states  in  the  administration  of  all  contrac 
tual  affairs  was  sharply  curtailed,  the  pervading  power 
of  the  federal  government  under  the  Constitution  was 
correspondingly  exalted,  and  a  fundamental  principle 


126  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

of  law  was  laid  down  which,  although  again  and  again 
assailed  since  Marshall7  s  day,  has  never  been  over 
thrown.1 

It  is  the  opinion  of  most  persons  conversant  with 
the  career  of  Webster  that  he  seldoinjjqualled,  and 
never  ^nrpassgd,  the  brjlliaiiice^of^hig  pleading  in  this 
memorable  case.  The  great  jurist,  Chancellor  Kent, 
confessed  to  have  been  changed  completely  in  his  views 
of  the  merits  of  the  case  by  a  mere  reading  of  the  con 
densed  report  of  Webster's  speech.  The  case  was  not 
the  first  which  Webster  had  argued  before  the  Supreme 
Court,  but  through  it  he  attained  at  a  stroke  a  place 
among  the  three  or  four  most  eminent  practitioners  at 
the  bar  of  that  tribunal,  and  in  general  it  may  be  said 
that  after  1819  his  position  as  an  advocate  was 
hardly  second  to  that  of  Piukney,  Wirt,  or  any  of  his 
older  contemporaries.  Of  his  own  generation  there 
was  no  one  whose  legal  ability  and  fame  could  be 
regarded  as  in  any  sense  the  equal  of  his.  Clay  was  a 
consummate  parliamentarian,  but  only  an  ordinary 
lawyer.  Calhoun  knew  a  great  deal  of  law,  but  never 
practiced. 

In  the  midst  of  a  lucrative  professional  activity 
Webster  was  called  upon  not  long  thereafter  to  render  a 
service  of  distinguished  character  to  his  adopted  state. 
The  separation  of  Maine  from  Massachusetts  in  1820, 
together  with  certain  other  exigencies  of  the  time, 
stimulated  a  movement  for  the  revision  of  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  commonwealth,  and  a  convention  was 
elected  to  undertake  the  task.  The  assemblage  met  at 
Boston  in  Kovember,  1820,  and  continued  its  delibera- 

1  In  consequence  of  the  decision  Dr.  Brown  and  tbe  "  old  ''  board 
of  trustees  took  possession  of  the  insignia  and  property  of  the 
college.  Wheelock  himself  had  died  in  1817. 


LAW  AND  OEATOKY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  127 

tions  until  the  following  January.  It  was  composed 
of  some  five  hundred  members  and  included  practically 
all  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  commonwealth — members 
of  Congress,  state  officials,  the  federal  judges,  leaders 
at  the  bar  and  in  business,  and  representatives  of  every 
important  class,  profession,  and  interest.  John  Adams, 
then  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  and  one  of  the  few  surviv 
ing  framers  of  the  constitution  of  1780,  was  honored  by 
election  to  the  presidency  of  the  convention,  although 
by  reason  of  infirmity  he  declined  to  serve  and  the 
duties  of  the  chair  fell  to  Chief  Justice  Parker.  Among 
the  delegates  representing^ Boston  was  Webster. 

In  most  respects  the  constitution  of  1780  had  proved 
a  very  satisfactory  instrument,  and  there  was  little  or 
no  demand  in  1820  that  it  be  set  aside  entirely.  ^As  to 
the  extent  and  naturejrf  the  changes  that  should  _be 
i u traduced  in  it,  however,  there  was  inuch^difference 
of  opinion.  The  period  was  one  in  which  political 
parties  as  such  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  existed. 
There  was,  none  the  less,  a  pretty  sharply  drawn  issue 
between  the  radical  and  the  conservative  wings  of  the 
convention,  which  but  reflected  far-reaching  divisions 
of  sentiment  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  state. 
Since  1780^  there  had  been  a  remarkable  growth  of 
democratic  opinion,  and  the  force  of  this  opinion  in 
1820  was  directed  toward  the  elimination  of  numerous 
eighteenth-century  principles  and  governmental  forms 
from  the  constitutional  system.  In  opposition  to  the 
radical  revisionists  stood  a  substantial  body  of  conserv- 
atives^reacTy  to  acquiesce  in  certain  modificaTIons, 
but  disposed  to  resist  all  changes  not  regarded  as  ab 
solutely  necessary.  3JJebster  was  identified,  in  the 
main,  with  the  conservative  group,  and  throughout 
the  proceedings  of  the  cbTTVfcution  no  member,  with  the 


128  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

possible  exception  of  Joseph  Story,  exercised  a  more 
potent  jnfluence  in  behalf  of  the  sane  and  judicious 
adjustment  of  the  problems  in  hand7  He  delivered  a 
number  of  formal  speeches  and  participated  freely  in 
impromptu  discussion.  He  served  as  chairman  of  two 
important  committees.  And  when,  upon  several  occa 
sions,  he  was  called  by  Chief  Justice  Parker  to  occupy 
the  chair,  he  presided  with  a  dignity  and  ability  so 
noteworthy  that  men  were  moved  to  comment  upon  his 
peculiar  qualification  for  the  speakership  of  the  na 
tional  House — a  post  of  responsibility  which,  however, 
he  was  destined  never  to  occupy. 

The  questions  to  whose  settlement  Webster  con 
tributed  most  during  the  deliberations  of  the  conven 
tion  pertained  to  three  subjects  :  the  character  of  the 
oath  of  office,  the  basis  of  ^ejpres^ntetionjs  the  senate, 
and  the  independence  of  the  judiciary.  The  constitu 
tion  of  1780  prescribed  as  a  feature  of  the  oath  of  office 
a  declaration  of  belief  in  the  Christian  religion.  In  a 
speech  of  remarkable  cogency  l  Webster  demonstrated 
that  while  the  existing  requirement  did  not  operate,  as 
in  certain  quarters  it  had  been  alleged  to  do,  to  de 
prive  some  men  of  the  right  to  public  office—because 
no  man  has  such  a  right — it  was  not  in  harmony  with 
the  fundamental  principle  of  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
was,  moreover,  in  practice,  unnecessary.  A  people  so 
predominantly  Christian  as  were  the  inhabitants  of 
Massachusetts  would  be  very  unlikely  to  elect  to  pub 
lie  office  a  disbeliever.  If  they  should  do  so,  it  must 
be  because  they  were  not  disposed  to  insist  upon  an 
avowal  of  belief  in  Christianity  as  a  necessary  qualifi 
cation.  In  any  case,  the  test  imposed  by  the  present 
constitution  was  non-essential,  and,  being  so,  undesir 
1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  3-7. 


LAW  AND  OEATOEY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  129 

able.  Under  the  influence  principally  of  this  logic  the 
convention  was  brought  to  a  decision  to  eliminatejrpm 
the  oath  all  reference  to  religious  opinion.;  and  from 
that  day  no  religious  qualification  has  been  required 
of  office-holders  within  the  state. 

A  second  question  to  which  Webster  addressed  him 
self  with  notable  force  and  effectiveness  was  that  of  the 
basis  of  representation  in  the  senate.  Here  his  part 
was  to  avert,  rather  than  to  encourage,  change.  Under 
the  constitution  of  1780  members  of  the  upper  house 
were  chosen  by  the  voters  in  districts  in  proportion  to 
taxable  property.  Members  of  the  lower  house  were 
apportioned  according  to  population.  By  1820  the 
growth  of  democratic  ideas,  especially  in  the  rural  por 
tions  of  the  state,  had  been  such  that  a  very  consider 
able  element  of  the  people  had  come  to  look  upon  the 
composition  of  the  senate  as  archaic,  aristocratic,  and 
indefensible.  It  was  urgently  demanded  that  the  con 
stitution  be  so  amended  as  to  provide  for  an  appor 
tionment  of  both  senators  and  representatives  accord 
ing  to  population.  It  fellto  Webster  to  develop  in_a 
carefully  prepared  speech 1  the  theory  of  bicameral  • 
legislative  bodies  and  to  Demonstrate  the  advantages' 
that  may  be  expected  to  arise  from  a  constitution  of 
the  twojbouses  upon  bases  that  are  not  identical,  to  the 
end  that  the  one  chamber  may  not  become  a  mere 
replica  of  the  other,  and  that  each  may  constitute  a 
proper  check  upon  the  other.  While  it  was  beyond 
serious  question  that  one  house  should  be  apportioned 
wholly  to  population,  into  the  apportionment  of  the 
other,  it  was  urged,  property — not  in  the  sense  of  mere 
personal  interests,  but  in  the  sense  of  the  great  per 
manent  interest  whose  protection  is  one  of  the  func- 
»  M  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  8-25. 


130  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tioiis  of  society — should  always  eiiter.  The  view  was 
not  a  popular  one,  but  by  sheer  force  of  persuasion 
Webster  carried  his  point,  and  the  existing  provision 
of  the  constitution  was  leftjintouched.  Every~student 
of  political  science  to-day~reeoguizes  in  Webster's  ex 
position  of  the  theory  of  legislative  bodies  numerous 
arguments  that  are  unanswerable.  It  was  only  in 
later  years,  after  the  spell  of  Webster's  influence  had 
been  somewhat  relaxed,  that  the  composition  of  the 
Massachusetts  senate  was  modified  in  accordance  with 
the  popular  demand. 

A  third  subject  upon  which  Webster  expended  no 
small  amount  of  effort  in  the  convention  was  the  inde 
pendence jxf  the Judiciary.  After  the  analogy  of  Eng 
lish  practice,  the  constitution  of  1780,  while  stipulat 
ing  a  judicial  tenure  of  good  behavior,  provided  that 
a  judge  might  be  removed  by  the  governor  on  an  ad 
dress  from  the  legislature.  A  simple  majority  of  the 
legislature  was  competent  to  issue  the  address ;  no 
reasons  need  be  assigned ;  and  the  official  in  question 
was  guaranteed  no  opportunity  for  defense.  Many 
men,  including  Webster,  felt  that  under  these  ar 
rangements  judges  were  too  much  subject  to  the  whim 
of  the  legislative  chambers.  It  was  therefore  proposed 
that  the  constitution  be  so  amended  as  to  require  that 
an  address  of  removal  be  passed  by  a  two -thirds  vote 
of  each  house,  that  reasons  should  be  assigned,  and 
that  an  accused  official  should  be  given  an  opportunity 
to  bring  in  a  defense.  A  masterful  speech  of  Webster  ' 
failed  to  carry  conviction  and  the  proposed  amendment 
was  lost.  On  Webster's  motion,  however,  it  was  stip 
ulated  in  the  revised  constitution  that  no  address  for  the 
removal  of  a  judicial  officer  should  be  passed  in  either 
1  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  26-32. 


LAW  AND  OEATOEY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  131 

braDck  of  the  legislature  until  the  reasons  therefor 
should  have  been  entered  upon  the  records  and  the  ac 
cused  should  have  been  admitted  to  a  hearing  in  his 
own  behalf  in  each  house. 

All  in  all,  the  part  taken  by  Webster  in  the  conven 
tion  was  one  of  peculiar  distinction.  "  Our  Mend 
Webster/'  wrote  Judge  Story  to  Mr.  Mason,  "has 
gained  a  noble  reputation.  He  was  before  known  as  a 
lawyer ;  but  he  has  now  secured  the  title  of  an  emi 
nent  and  enlightened  statesman.  It  was  a  glorious 
field  for  him,  and  he  has  had  an  ample  harvest.  The 
whole  force  of  his  great  mind  was  brought  out,  and  in 
several  speeches  he  commanded  universal  admiration. 
He  always  led  the  van,  and  was  most  skilful  and  in 
stantaneous  in  attack  and  retreat.  .  .  .  On  the 
whole,  I  never  was  more  proud  of  any  display  than  his 
in  my  life,  and  I  am  much  deceived  if  the  well-earned 
popularity,  so  justly  and  so  boldly  acquired  by  him 
on  this  occasion,  does  not  carry  him,  if  he  lives,  to  the 
presidency."  l 

While  the  deliberations  of  the  convention  were  in 
progress,  there  came  on  the  two  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  Early  in 
the  year  citizens  of  Plymouth,  together  with  descendants 
of  the  Pilgrims  elsewhere,  organized  the  "  Pilgrim  So 
ciety,"  whose  purpose  was  "to  comineniorate  the  land 
ing,  and  to  honor  the  memory,  of  the  intrepid  men  who 
first  set  foot  on  Plymouth  Bock."  It  was  determined 
to  celebrate  the  two  hundredth^njuiversary  with  un 
usual  elaborateness,  and  Webster  was  chosen  to  deliver 
the  oration.  The  invitation  carried  with  it  a  magnifi 
cent  opportunity.  The  occasion,  the  subject,  the  hear 

1  Story  to  Mason,  January  21,  1821.  W.  Story,  "  Life  and  Let 
ters  of  Joseph  Story,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  395  396. 


132  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ing — all  were  such  as  to  inspire  to  the  loftiest  endeavor. 
And  when,  on  the  22d  of  December,  the  orator  rose 
before  an  audience  that  filled  and  overflowed  the  old 
First  Church,  he  was  in  every  sense  prepared  for  an 
effort  worthy  of  the  day.  Already  the  fame  of  his 
eloquence  at  the  bar,  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  and  in 
the  constitutional  convention  then  in  session  had 
covered  the  land.  Whether  he  should  be  able  to  seize 
upon  a  striking  historical  event,  interpret  it  in  the 
light  of  the  development  of  a  growing  nation,  and  at 
tain  the  summit  of  polished  speech  in  an  address  in 
tended  neither  to  convince  a  judge  nor  to  mold  the 
course  of  a  deliberative  assembly,  remained  to  be  de 
terrnined.  Within  the  domain  of  purely  ' '  occasional ' ' 
oratory  his  efforts  hitherto  had  been  confined  almost 
entirely  to  Fourth  of  July  speeches,  a  Phi  Beta  Kappa, 
oration  at  Dartmouth  in  1809  upon  a,  purely  literary 
theme,  and  an  address  in  1812  before  the  Washington 
Benevolent  Society  of  Portsmouth  upon  a  theme  purely 
political.  But  people  who  knew  the  man  and  were 
familiar  with  the  depths  of  his  feeling  did  not  hesitate- 
to  expect  of  him  upon  this  occasion  the  greatest  things. 
The  test  was  met  with  a  splendid  achievement.  By 
some  it  has  even  been  maintained  that  Webster  himself 
never  subsequently  rose  in  sheer  eloquence  above  tliti 
height  attained  in  the  Plymouth  oration.  In  this 
judgment  it  is  hardly  possible  to  concur,  for  in  the 
present  effort  there  lingered  a  quality  of  grandioseness 
which  is  happily  lacking  in  the  Bunker  Hill  speech  oi' 
1825,  the  eulogy  on  Adams  and  Jefferson  in  1826,  and 
other  orations  of  subsequent  years.  Yet  in  loftiness  of 
conception  and  eloquence  of  diction  the  Plymouth  ad 
dress  was  unquestionably  superior  to  anything  of  the 
kind  which  had  been  heard  in  America  within  a  gen 


LAW  AND  ORATORY  IX  MASSACHUSETTS  133 

eration.  Its  stirring  portrayal  of  the  hardships  of  the 
Pilgrims  both  before  and  after  migration,  its  masterful 
characterization  of  those  institutions  which  lay  at  the 
basis  of  New  England  society  in  colonial  times,  its 
tribute  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  republicanism 
upon  which  the  nation  of  later  days  was  built,  its  com 
pelling  survey  of  the  whole  stretch  of  American  civi 
lization  and  achievement,  were  destined  to  classical 
celebrity.  Especially  notable  was  the  peroration,  dur 
ing  the  course  of  whose  delivery  the  speaker  stood  with 
arms  outstretched  as  if  to  welcome  the  oncoming  gen 
erations  of  men  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  u  Ad 
vance,  then,  ye  future  generations  !  We  would  hail 
you,  as  you  rise  in  your  long  succession  to  fill  the 
places  which  we  now  fill,  and  to  taste  the  blessings  of 
existence  where  we  are  passing,  and  soon  shall  have 
passed,  our  own  human  duration.  We  bid  you  wel 
come  to  this  pleasant  laud  of  the  fathers.  We  bid  you 
welcome  to  the  healthful  skies  and  the  verdant  fields  of 
New  England.  We  greet  your  accession  to  the  great 
inheritance  which  we  have  enjoyed.  We  welcome  you 
to  the  blessings  of  good  government  and  religious 
liberty.  We  welcome  you  to  the  treasures  of  science 
and  the  delights  of  learning.  We  welcome  you  to  the 
transcendent  sweets  of  domestic  life,  to  the  happiness 
of  kindred,  and  parents,  and  children.  We  welcome 
you  to  the  immeasurable  blessings  of  rational  existence, 
the  immortal  hope  of  Christianity,  and  the  light  of 
everlasting  truth."  ' 

u  I  was  never  so  excited  by  public  speaking  before 
in  my  life, ''  afterward  wrote  George  Ticknor.  "  Three 
or  four  times  I  thought  my  temples  would  burst  with 

1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  49-50;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  225-226. 


L'54  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

the  gush  of  blood.  When  I  came  out  I  was  almost 
afraid  to  come  near  to  him.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  he 
was  like  the  mount  that  might  not  be  touched  and  that 
burned  with  tire.  I  was  beside  myself,  and  am  so 
still."1  And  Tickuor,  while  an  admirer  and,  upon 
the  present  occasion,  a  traveling- companion,  was  by 
nature  cool  and  critical.  The  effecLoJL  the  discourse 
was  to  placeJWebster  at  once  in  advance  of  all  con 
temporary  oratorSj_at  least  in  1fche~jui3gmeiit  of  most 
American "critics.  "  Mr.  Burke,"  wrote  John  Adams, 
"  is  no  longer  entitled  to  the  praise — the  most  consum 
mate  orator  of  modern  times."  Within  a  year  the 
oration  was  put  in  print — rather  more,  indeed,  than 
was  actually  spoken  during  the  upward  of  two  hours 
occupied  by  the  delivery — and  circulated  broadcast 
over  the  country.  The  reception  with  which  it  met 
was  rivaled  only  by  that  accorded  the  "  Sketch  Book  r 
and  other  works  of  Washington  Irving  then  appearing. 

1  Quoted  in  Lodge,  "  Webster,"  p.  118. 


CHAPTER  VI 

IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827 

IN  the  autumn  of  1822  a  number  of  the  prominent 
men  of  Boston  persuaded  Webster  to  accept  a  nomina 
tion  as  representative  of  the  Suffolk  district  in  Con 
gress.  The  nomination  was  tendered  formally,  and 
unanimously,  by  a  body  of  delegates  representing  the 
various  wards  comprised  within  the  urban  district. 
When  the  proposition  was  broached  Webster  was  in 
clined  to  demur,  and  there  is  reason  for  the  belief  that 
when  eventually  he  yielded  to  public  demand  he  did  so 
in  contravention  of  his  actual  desires.  Acceptance 
meant  the  abandoning,  in  at  least  some  measure,  of  his 
lucrative  and  absorbing  legal  practice ;  and,  since. he 
had  assumed  the  indebtedness  of  his  father  to  prevent 
the  paternal  estate  from  being  declared  insolvent,  his 
financial  position  was  not  yet  such  that  he  could  con 
template  with  equanimity  the  impairment  of  his  yearly 
income.  And,  even  if  it  be  assumed  that  Webster 
had  in  mind  a  return  to  public  life,  it  may  be  inferred 
that,  having  already  spent  four  years  in  the  lower 
house  at  Washington,  he  would  now  have  preferred 
some  other  and  more  exalted  station.  But  the  people 
of  Boston  would  not  have  it  otherwise  than  that  he 
should  represent  them  in  the  Eighteenth  Congress,  and, 
indeed,  in  the  two  succeeding  congresses,  to  which  they 
reflected  him  almost  unanimously.1  "  Mr.  Webster," 

1  He  was  returned  to  his  seat  at  the  election  of  1824  by  a  vote  of 
4,990  in  a  total  poll  of  5,000. 


136  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

declared  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed  to  wait 
011  him  in  1822,  "  I  come  to  ask  you  to  throw  down 
your  law  books  and  enter  the  service  of  the  public  j  for 
to  the  public  you  belong.  I  know  what  sacrifices  we 
demand  of  you,  but  we  must  rely  on  your  patriotism. 
We  cannot  take  a  refusal. "  1  Against  the  force  of 
such  an  appeal  Webster  found  it  impossible  to  hold  out. 
He  accepted,  and  in  the  following  November  he  was 
elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

The  six_  years  of  congressional  service  thus  inaugu 
rated  comprised  a  distinctly  active  and  useful  period 
in  Webster's  public  career.  During  the  interim  since 
his  retirement  in  1817  he  had_niade  great  strides  in 
both^j^jjytajtioju..^^  By  reason~of~the  Dart 

mouth  College  case,  the  Plymouth  oration,  the  succes 
sion  of  masterly  efforts  in  the  constitutional  conven 
tion  of  1820,  and  scores  of  notable  victories  at  the  bar, 
both  state  and  federal,  his  position  had  come  to  be  that 
of  the  most  widely-known  and  most  commanding  New 
Englauder.  with  the  possible  exception  of  John  Quincy 
Adams.  Since  the  death  of  Pinkney,  in  1822,  he  had 
become  unquestionably  the  foremost  of  advocates  at 
the  American  bar.  The  Eighteenth  Congress,  in 
which  he  took  his  seat  in  December,  1823,  was  much 
the  superior  of  its  predecessor  in  ability  and  influence. 
Clay  was  again  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  and  with  him  appeared  Forsyth,  Crowninshield, 
Randolph,  Edward  Livingston,  McLane,  Tod,  Taylor, 
Harbour,  and  Sam  Houston.  Webster  reentered  the 
House  with  outlook  broadened,  spirit  chastened,  and 
patriotism  undiminished,  and  it  was  to  be  expected  that 
he  should  be  accounted  from  the  first  one  of  the  half- 
dozen  ablest  members  of  the  body.  With  peculiar  fil 

1  Curtis,  " Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  198. 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          137 

uess  Clay,  once  more  elected  Speaker,  appointed  him 
to  the  important  post  of  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Judiciary. 

aif.flat.1on  In  Congress,  and  through 


out  the  country,  in  1823  was  very  different  from  that 
which  obtained  in  1817.  During  the  six  years  of 
Webster's  absence  from  Washington  there  had  occurred 
an  almost  complete  disjolutiojL-Qf  political  parti  es. 
There  were  sliTl~TeSeraTists  who  called  themselves  by 
the  time-honored  party  name  and  who,  in  respect  to 
their  principles,  were  as  irreconcilable  as  a  decade 
earlier.  But  they  were  not  numerous  or  influential, 
and  in  the  forthcoming  campaign  for  the  presidency 
they  gave  promise  of  cutting  little  or  110  figure.  The 
great  mass  of  people  in  all  sections  of  the  country  had 
been  absorbed  by  the  broadly  nationalized  Kepublican 
party,  which,  indeed,  by  reason  of  the  very  complete 
ness  of  its  triumph,  had  largely  ceased  to  maintain  the 
essential  qualities  of  a  party.  According  to  the 
school-books  of  later  days  the  era  was  one  of  "good 
feeling.  "  In  point  of  fact,  there  are  not  more  than 
two  or  three  epochs  in  our  national  history  in  which 
political  feeling  was  more  intense,  bitter,  and  personal. 
What  was  nominally  the  great  party  of  Jefferson  and 
Madison  and  Monroe  was  in  truth  little  more  than  a 
congeries  of  jealous  and  struggling  groups,  each  led  by, 
or  rallying  around,  some  one  of  the  half-dozen  active 
presidential  aspirants  of  the  day—  Clay,  Calhoun, 
Crawford,  Jackson,  Clinton,  John  Quincy  Adams. 

In  the  midst  of  a  situation  so  confused  the  political 
inclinations  of  Webster  were  for  a  time  uncertain  and 
anomalous.  ^TRroSghout  his  public  career  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  stand  as  a  matter  of  course  with  the 
Federalists,  although,  as  has  appeared,  he  was  not 


138  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

averse  to  a  break  with  the  majority  of  his  party  when 
occasion  seemed  to  him  to  demand  an  independent 
course  of  action  ;  and  he  had  never  been  identified  with 
the  reactionary  and  irreconcilable  New  England  element 
which  had  been  wont  to  delight  in  factious  opposition 
for  its  own  sake.  During  the  earlier  mouths  of  the  new 
Congress  every  political  leader  and  group  angled  with 
more  or  less  skill  for  the  support  of  the  Federalist 
members,  with  the  consequence  that  a  minority  ele 
ment  which  had  no  program  or  prospects  of  its  own 
was  exalted  occasionally  to  a  position  of  influence  al 
together  disproportionate  to  its  numerical  strength. 
Webster,  still  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  political 
parties  are  essentially  an  evil,  was  not  displeased  with 
the  uutrammeled  position  in  which  he  found  himself. 
He  set  out  to  be  essentially  ajree^lance,  and  through 
out  his  UireeT  terms" he  held  aloof  persistently  from  a 
number  of  political  groups,  any  one  of  which  would 
gladly  have  welcomed  his  accession  to  its  ranks. 
Eventually, ,  with  the_re^fojmatiou,  in  the  late  twenties, 
of  definite  party  lines,  Webster_Uecajn£L.again  perforce 
a  party  man.  _  But  he  never  gloried  in  the  affairs  of 
party  as  such,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  in  his 
own  judgment  the  greater  brilliance  of  later  stages  of 
his  career  ever  quite  compensated  for  the  loss  of  indi 
vidual  independence  involved  in  party  allegiance. 

The  perjod^overed  by  the  Eighteenth  Congress  was 
one  of  exceptional  importance,  not  alone  in  respect  to 
the  unfolding  of  the  domestic  political  situation,  but 
by  reason  of  a  state  of  affairs  abroad  which  stimulated 
wide-spread  interest  and  at  times  occasioned  serious 
apprehension.  The  questions  at  home  which  elicited 
most  attention  were  those^relafmg  to  the  tariff  and  in- 
s,  and  the  most  strikmg~event  was 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          139 

the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adanis  to  the  presidency 
by  the  House  of  Eepresentatives.  The  principal  for 
eign  questions  were  those  arising  from  the  revolt  of 
tEe"13panish  American  colonies  and  the  threatened  ac 
tivities  of  the  Holy  Alliance. 

The  first  issue  to  which  Webster  addressed  himself 
in  a  deliberate  manner  after  the  opening  of  the  ses 
sion  of  1823-1824  was  one  which  arose  from  con 
temporary  developments  in  the  remoter  portions  of 
Europe,  notably  the  struggle  of  the  Greeks  for  inde 
pendence  from  Turkey.  As  has  already  appeared, 
Webster  from  boyhood  cherished  a  living  interest  in 
European  politics,  and  his  correspondence,  even  as  a 
college  student,  abounds  in  allusions  to  men  and  affairs 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  He  had  watched 
with  solicitude  the  rise  and  predominance  of  Napoleon  ; 
he  had  followed  with  satisfaction  the  collapse  of  the 
Corsican's  dominion  ;  he  had  viewed  with  apprehen 
sion  the  reaction  which  followed  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  and  particularly  the  designs  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  upon  liberalism,  both  in  Europe  and  beyond. 
At  the  present  moment  he  was  moved  to  enthusiasm  by 
the  magnificent  contest  for  independence  which  the 
successors  of  the  ancient  Hellenes  were  waging  against 
the  semi-barbaric  and  cruel  power  of  Turkey.  This 
contest  had  begun  in  1821.  In  1822  a  national  as 
sembly  had  proclaimed  the  independence  of  Greece 
and  made  provision  for  the  organization  of  an  autono 
mous  government.  No  nation  had  as  yet  recognized 
the  independence  of  the  country,  but  in  the  opinion 
of  Webster  the  time  had  arrived,  by  the  end  of  1823, 
when  the  United  States  ought  to  set  the  timid  and  reac 
tionary  powers  of  Europe  an  example  by  doing  so. 
December  8th,  but  a  few  days  after  the  opening  of  the 


140  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

session,  he  introduced  in  the  House  a  resolution  to  the 
effect  that  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law  for  de 
fraying  the  expenses  incident  to  the  appointment  of  an 
agent  or  commissioner  to  Greece,  whenever  the  Presi 
dent  should  deem  it  expedient  to  make  such  an  ap 
pointment.  The  resolution  was  not  introduced  until 
its  author  had  conferred  privately  with  a  number  of 
men,  all  of  whom  gave  the  project  their  approval. 
From  various  quarters,  however,  it  encountered  sub 
stantial  opposition.  Many  members  professed  to  be 
lieve  its  adoption  would  precipitate  war,  and  many 
others  feared  that  by  the  powers  of  Europe  the  action 
which  was  proposed  would  be  interpreted  as  a  piece  of 
sheer  meddling  in  a  situation  that  was  of  no  immediate 
concern  to  the  United  States.  The  Administration,  al 
ready  committed  to  the  maintenance  of  a  firm  attitude 
apropos  the  threatened  interference  of  the  Allies  in 
Latin  America,  hesitated  to  give  the  resolution  its  sup 
port,  although  in  his  famous  message  of  December  2d, 
President  Monroe  had  gone  so  far  as  to  express  the 
opinion  that  there  was  reason  to  hope  for  the  eventual 
triumph  of  the  Greek  cause.  "  The  pinch  is,"  wrote 
Webster  to  Everett,  "  that  in  the  message  the  Presi 
dent  has  taken,  as  is  supposed,  pretty  high  ground  as 
to  this  continent,  and  is  afraid  of  the  appearance  of 
interfering  in  the  concerns  of  the  other  continent 
also."  To  the  author  of  the  resolution  himself  this 
consideration  appealed  with  little  force.  "  I  think," 
he  maintained,  "we  have  as  much  community  with 
the  Greeks  as  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  Andes  and 
the  dwellers  on  the  borders  of  the  Vermilion  sea."  ' 
On  January  19,  1824,  the  resolution  came  up  for 

1  Webster  to   Everett,   December  6,  1823.     Webster,    "Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  332. 


IN  CONGKESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          141 

consideration  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and  in 
advocacy  of  it  Webster  delivered  a  very  notable 
speech.  Expecting  a  dazzling  display  of  oratory  upon 
a  theme  which  so  readily  lent  itself  to  passionate  ap 
peal,  listeners  crowded  the  galleries.  Webster's  pur- 
X^ose,  however,  reached  far  beyond  the  delivery  of  a 
merely  brilliant  oration,  and  in  truth  the  speech  was 
so  sober  and  restrained  that  some  of  the  hearers  were 
doubtless  a  bit  disappointed.  "My  intention,"  the 
speaker  had  written  to  Everett,  "  is  to  justify  the  res 
olution  against  two  classes  of  objections,  those  that 
suppose  it  not  to  go  far  enough,  and  those  that  sup 
pose  it  to  go  too  far.  Then,  to  give  some  little  history 
of  the  Greek  revolution,  express  a  pretty  strong  con 
viction  of  its  ultimate  success,  and  persuade  the 
House,  if  I  can,  to  take  the  merit  of  being  the  first 
government,  among  all  the  civilized  nations,  who 
have  publicly  rejoiced  in  the  emancipation  of  Greece."  ' 
Brushing  aside  all  considerations  of  sentiment  arising 
from  the  classical  associations  of  the  Greek  peninsula, 
Webster  devoted  himself  to  (11  an  exposition  of  th^ 
reactionary  principles  of  the  European  powers,  _as_ 
developed  in  successive  congresses  from  tEat  of  Paris 
in  1814  to  that  of  Laibach  in  1821 ;  (2)  an  argument  Jo 
the  effect  that,  while  the  United  States  might  not 
properly  interfere  in  European  affairs,  she  was  none  the 
less  obligated  by  the  broader  interest  of  humanity  to 
throw  her  Tnfluencesquarely  against  the  designs  of  the 
AlliesTT^)  a  review~of  the  progress  of  the  revolution 
in  Greece,  with  an  optimistic  forecast  of  its  outcome  ; 
and  (4)  an  appeal  that  Congress^.i>y  passing  the  pro- 
posed  resolution,  should  at  least  go  so  far  as  to  provide 

1  Webster  to  Everett,  December  21,  1823.     Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  336. 


142  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

the  Presidentjwith  the  means^of^recognizing  the  new 
Greek  nation  whenever  he  should  deem  it  the  part  of 
discretion  to  do  so.  "They  [the  Greeks]  look  to  us," 
he  declared  in  closing,  "  as  the  great  Republic  of  the 
earth — and  they  ask  us  by  our  common  faith,  whether 
we  can  forget  that  they  are  struggling,  as  we  once 
struggled,  for  what  we  now  so  happily  enjoy?  I  can 
not  say,  sir,  that  they  will  succeed  :  that  rests  with 
heaven.  But  for  myself,  sir,  if  I  should  to-morrow 
hear  that  they  have  failed — that  their  last  phalanx  had 
sunk  beneath  the  Turkish  scimitar,  that  the  flames  of 
their  last  city  had  sunk  in  its  ashes,  and  that  naught 
remained  but  the  wide  melancholy  waste  where  Greece 
once  was,  I  should  still  reflect,  with  the  most  heartfelt 
satisfaction,  that  I  have  asked  you,  in  the  name  of 
seven  millions  of  freemen,  that  you  would  give  them  at 
least  the  cheering  of  one  friendly  voice."  l 

During  the  lively  discussion  that  ensued  Webster's 
resolution  was  warmly  defended  by  Clay,  who  brought 
forward  another  of  similar  purport  with  reference  to 
the  intervention  of  European  powers  in  the  affairs  of 
Latin  America.  Poinsett,  of  South  Carolina,  offered 
an  amendment  to  the  effect  that  no  appropriation  for  a 
Grecian  mission  should  be  voted,  but  that  Congress 
should  promulgate  a  formal  declaration  of  American 
sympathy  with  the  Greeks  and  of  good  wishes  for  their 
cause.  John  Randolph  emptied  upon  the  original 
project,  and  upon  its  author,  all  the  vials  of  his  wrath. 
It  became  apparent  that  the  resolution  could  not  pass, 
even  in  the  form  of  the  Poiusett  amendment ;  where 
upon  Webster  reluctantly  abaiidaiied  the  effort,  and  no 

1  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  18th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  Vol.  I,  p.  1099.  For 
the  speech  see  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  60-93,  and 
4i  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  60-93. 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          143 

vote  was  taken.  Three  more  years  elapsed  before  the 
powers  of  Europe  took  it  upon  themselves,  first  to  offer 
mediation  in  Greece,  and  subsequently  to  intervene  ; 
and  the  final  independence  of  the  Greek  nation  was  not 
established  until  1832.  "RjMvis_rgsp1iitinn  aiid-spe^ch 
WebsJ&cj|id  not  affect  in  any  overt  manner  the  official 
attitude  of  the  United  States  respecting  the  situation. 
He  had,  however,  achieved  his  deeper  purpose  oL ex 
posing  the  reactionary  principles  which  at  that  time 
domjna^edthe_policies_of_the  European  powersjaniLflL 
settingjninjmted  States  still  moj!e-fij^H»fyin_Qr4^osition 
to  them.  Between  the  Greek  resolution  and  the  Mon 
roe  Doctrine  there  was  a  closer  relation  than  is  apt 
nowadays  to  be  perceived.  Alluding  half-huinorously, 
as  late  as  1831,  to  a  recently  published  collection  of  his 
orations,  Webster  said  of  the  Greek  speech  that  he  was 
"more  fond  of  this  child  than  of  any  of  the  family." 
Certainly  it  attracted  wider  attention  than  any  other. 
"  Mr.  Webster's  speech,"  reported  a  friend  of  Henry 
A.  S.  Dearborn  in  London,  "has  been  received  with 
general  approbation  and  applause.  It  has  been  trans 
lated  into  Greek  and  printed  in  London,  in  order  to  be 
distributed  all  over  Greece.  I  am  happy  that  the 
Demosthenes  of  America  has  taken  the  lead  in  encour 
aging  and  animating  the  countrymen  of  his  great  pro 
totype."  l  The  speech  was,  in  fact,  translated  into 
most  of  the  European  languages  and  was  circulated 
not  only  in  Europe  but  throughout  Latin  America. 
In  sheer  oratorical  quality  it  was  inferior  to  some  of 
its  predecessors,  but  its  subject,  combined  with  its 
authorship,  gave  it  a  world-wide  interest. 

As  has  been  stated,  Webster  occupied  in  the  Eight- 

1  Dearborn  to  Webster,   May  4,  1824.     Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of 
Daniel  Webster,"  p.  104. 


144  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

eenth  Congress  the  position  of  chairman  of  the  Coin 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary.     In  this  capacity  it  fell  to  hiii 
to  TlSMIeTa  considerable  number  of  questions  relating 
to  the  extension  and  the  reorganization  of  the  federa 
judicial  system.     The  time  was  ripe  for  an  increase  o  ' 
the  number  of  justices  attacliefflto^tbe  Supreme  Court 
or,  in  lieu  of  that,  the  creation  of  new  tribunals  whereby 
the  Supreme  Court  might  be  relieved  of  a  portion  of 
the  work  which  devolved  upon  it,  and  Webster  would 
have  been  happy  to  devote  himself  without  delay  to 
the  preparation  and  promotion  of  legislative  measures 
directed  toward  these  ends.     The  obstacles  to  be  over 
come  were,  however,  enormous.     In  Tirginia,  in  Ken 
tucky,  and  other  quarters,  there  was  insistent  deniam! 
that  the  expanding  functions  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
relation  to  the  passing  upon  the  constitutionality  of 
law  should  be  put  under  restraint,  and  Webster  found 
that  he  could  hardly  hope  to  do  more  for  a  time  than 
to  defend  the  judicial  power  as  it  was  against  the  proj 
ects  that  were  continually  being   brought  forward  for 
its  impairment.     To  Justice  Story  he  writes,  January 
4,  1824  :   "I  am  in  great  trouble  and  perplexity  on 
this  subject  of  the  courts  ;  and  often  wish  I  was  almost 
anywhere  rather  than  where  I  am.     There  are  difficul 
ties  inherent  in   the  subject  ;  there  are  others,   more 
formidable,  arising  from  the  state  of  men's  opinions." 
The  most  immediate  reform  which  it  was  desired  to 
bring  about  was  the  increase  of  the  membership  of  the 
Supreme  Court  from  seven  to  nine,2  to  the  end,  chiefly, 

1  Webster  to  Story,  January  4,  1824.  Webster,  "  Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  338. 

5  The  number  of  justices  of  the  .Supreme  Court,  fixed  at  six  by 
the  act  of  September,  1789,  was  reduced  to  five  by  the  act  of  Febrii 
ary,  1801,  restored  to  six  by  the  act  of  March  8. 1802,  and  increased 
to  seven  by  an  act  of  1807  under  whose  terms  a  new  circuit  in  the 
West  was  created. 


IN  CONGBESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          145 

that  it  might  not  become  necessary  for  the  justices  to 
abandon  altogether  the  practice  of  holding  court,  in 
cooperation  with  the  district  judges,  on  circuit.  With 
such  an  increase  Webster  believed  that  the  country 
could  "get  along  probably  for  twenty  years,  or  for 
ever.  "  Early  in  the  Nineteenth  Congress,  during 
whose  term  he  was  continued  at  the  head  of  the  Judi 
ciary  Committee,  he  framed,  with  the  assistance  of 
members  of  the  committee*,  a  judiciary  bill  and  labored 
with  incessant  zeal  to  procure  its  enactment  into  law. 
The  bill  provided  that  the  membership  of  the  Supreme 
Court  should  be  increased  from  seven  to  ten7that  six 
should  constitute  a  quorum,  and  that  tFe  states  should 
be  divided  into  ten  circuits,  with  a  circuit  court  in 
each,  in  which  one  of  the  Supreme  Court  justices 
should  at  least  occasionally  sit.  The  bill  was  intro 
duced  in  the  House  December  22,  1825.  On  the  4th 
of  January,  1826,  its  adoption  was  advocated  by  its 
author  in  a  speech  in  which  there  was  reviewed  in  a 
masterful  manner  the  growth  of  the  American  judi 
ciary  and  the  situation  within  the  domain  of  federal 
justice  which  called  for  the  changes  which  were  pro 
posed.1  Within  three  weeks  the  bill  waspassed  by 
the  House,  but  in  the  Senate  it  had  no  abSTchjunpion, 
with  the  result  that  it  came  back  to  the  House  encum 
bered  with  so  many  amendments  as  to  be  scarcely 
recognizable.  Upon  the  amendments  the  two  houses 
failed  to  agree,  and  the  outcome  was  that  the  measure 
was  lost.^  If  the  West,  in  whose  interest  largely  the 
bill  had  been  framed,  had  rallied  to  its  support  it 
might  easily  have  been  carried.  Webster's  interest  in 
the  reform  continued  unabated,  and  his  correspondence 

l"  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  150-177;  ''Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  150-177. 


146  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

with  Judge  Story  in  succeeding  years  contained  fre 
quent  references  to  the  subject.  It  was  not,  however, 
until  1837  that  the  enlargement  of  the  Court,  to  nine 
members,  with  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  federal 
circuits,  took  place.  It  is  of  interest  to  observe  thai 
\V~ebster  in  1825  believed  that  in  the  future  the  growth 
of  judicial  business  would  be  met  by  "  a  gradual  and 
progressive  improvement  in  the  district  courts,  and 
that  so  far  as  the  business  becomes  incapable  of  being 
performed  by  the  supreme  judges  on  the  circuit,  the 
duties  of  the  circuit  court  will  be  devolved  on  the  dis 
trict  judge.'7  Intermediate  circuit  judges,  such  as 
had  been  provided  for  by  the  act  of  1801  (repealed 
in  1802)  were  not  likely,  in  his  opinion,  ever  to  be 
required. 

During  the  closing  session  of  the  Eighteenth  Con 
gress  Webster_jntroduced  and  procured Jjhe_enactment 
of  one  very  impj)rta^ES^asT[rB~T5tating  to  the  judici 
ary,  namely,  the  Crimes_^4ct_of  March  3,  1825.  The 
First  Congress  under  the  Constitution  had  enacted, 
under  date  of  April  30,  1790,  a  carefully  drawn  crim 
inal  code  ;  but  this  body  of  law  was  never  complete, 
and  by  1825  its  gaps  and  deficiencies  were  glaring  and 
serious.  With  the  assistance  of  Justice  Story  Webster 
laboriously  compiled  a  criminal  code,  supplementing 
and  amplifying  the  code  of  ITOOpanmor  this  he  con 
trived,  with  a  good  deal  of  patience  and  adroitness,  to 
procure  the  approval  of  Congress.  In  its  final  form 
the  new  code,  published  in  twenty-six  sections,  mado 
provision  for  every  kind  of  case  that  had  arisen  during 
the  pa~s^rtjr^y^veyears,  involving  the  jurisprudence 
of  the  United  States  as  distinguished  from  that  of  the 
several  states.  And  the  opinion  is  avowed  by  Mr. 
Lodge  that  the  Crimes  Act  is  perhaps  the  best  monu 


IN  CONGKESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          147 

mentjhat^remains  iiUWebster's  purely  legislative  and 
constructive  ability.1 

Another  subject  to  which  some  attention  was  given 
at  this  time  is  that  of  internaHmproxements.  In  the 
spring  of  1817  "Webster  had  voted  for  Calhoun's 
"  Bonus  Bill,"  and  in  his  conviction  of  both  the  con 
stitutionality  and  the  expediency  of  a  liberal  policy  of 
road  and  canal  building  at  the  national  cost  he  was  not 
shaken  by  President  Madison's  veto  of  that  measure. 
During  the  session  of  1824-1825  there  was  introduced 
in  the  House  a  measure  providing  for  the  extension  of 
the  Cumberland  Road  from  Wheeling  to  Zanesville. 
The  bill  was  opposed  with  vigor  by  McDuffie,  of  South 
Carolina,  and  by  others,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
partial  and  sectional.  In  a  speech  of  much  force 
Webster  combatted  the  notion  that  in  the  determining 
of  internal  improvement  policy  Congress  was  obligated 
to  attempt  to  balance  the  conflicting  interests  of  the 
various  sections.  If  the  power  existed  at  all — and 
Webster  never  dojibted  that  it  did — it  ought  to  De 
exercised  for  the^goocr  ot  the  nation  as  a  whole  an(L 
withoulregard  to  sectional  concerns.  That  road  or 
canal" should  be  constructed  first  which  was  most 
needed,  in  whatsoever  portion  of  the  country  it  might 
happen  to  be  located.  In  thus  advocating  a  policy  by 
which  the  settlement  of  the  West  might  be  expected 
to  be  promoted  Webster  broke  absolutely_with_J^ew 
England  tradition  and  planted  himself  squaj^lffjupon 
the  bed-rock"o"f  nationalism.  Emigration  from  a  more 
densely  populated  to  a  less  densely  populated  region 
he  regarded  as  not  only  inevitable  but  altogether 
desirable.  If,  he  declared,  any  of  his  own  constituents 
care  to  settle  "  on  the  Kansas  or  the  Arkansas,  or  the 
1  Lodge,  "Webster,"  p,  138. 


148  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

Lord  knows  where,  within  our  territory,"  he  should 
cherish  not  the  slightest  objection.  Let  them  go  and 
be  happier  if  they  could.  ByaJ.egitimate  expansion 
of  ]^op»ulationJ;he_  wealth  and^roJpeiTEy~bf  the  conn  try 
would  be  increased  forTnore  than  by  ally  policy  whose 
okj^ot^skojjlir^  the  Eastern 

states..  The  lofty  and^iiBeraFtone  of  this  argument 
c5ntributed  distinctly  to  the  enactment  of  the  present 
bill,  and  in  consequence  Webster  attained  a  degree  of 
favor  throughout  the  West  which  hitherto  he  had  not 
enjoyed.  "  Permit  me  to  say,"  wrote  an  Ohio  con 
gressman  in  1825,  "that  with  our  people  no  man  in 
this  nation  stands  on  more  elevated  ground."  l 

The  years  of  Webster's  second  period  of  service  in 
Congress  compriseorTBroughont  the  country  an  epoch 
of  intensejgolitical  rivalry  and  excitement.  At  the 
outset  Webster  himself  exhibited  indifference  toward 
the  purely  political  questions  of  the  day,  and  at  no 
time  did  he  suffer  politics  to  encroach  upon  the  legis 
lative  and  professional  labors  in  which  he  was  prima 
rily  interested.  In  the  unfolding  of  his  public  career 
the  period  is,  none  the  less,  highly  important,  because 
here  it  was  that,  almost  against  his  own  will,  he  was 
drawn  into  the  gigantic  political  game  that  was  play 
ing,  and  here  it  was  that  he  was  induced  by  the  sheer 
drift  of  circumstances  to  assume  a  position"  of  leader  - 
s 


later  v^hig,  party  with  whose"  fortunes  his  subsequent 
career  waTdestined  largely  to  be  bound  up.  As  early 
as  December,  1823,  when  he  first  assumed  his  seat,  the 
question  as  to  who  should  succeed  Monroe  in  the 
presidency  fifteen  months  hence  was  claiming  the  at 

1  Joseph  Vance  to  Webster.  March  29,  1825.     Quoted  in  Curtis, 
"Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  241. 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          149 

tention  of  many  of  his  colleagues  to  the  exclusion  of 
very  nearly  everything  else.  There  were  numerous 
candidates,  principally  Adams,  Clay,  Jackson,  Cal- 
houn,  and  Crawford,  and  intrigues  among  their  respect 
ive  groups  of  supporters  were  at  their  height.  So 
evenly  matched  were  the  candidates  that  many  men 
already  believed,  as  did  Webster  himself,  that  the 
election  would  inevitably  be  thrown  into  the  House  of 
Representatives.  As  to  a  preference  among  the  men 
in  the  field,  Webster  was  for  a  time  undecided. 
Jackson,  the  champion  of  militarism  and  the  favorite 
of  the  unthinking  masses,  he  co^ild  not  abide.  Craw 
ford,  the  representative  of  radical  Republicanism, 
stood  at  the  pole  totally  opposite  to  a  Federalist,  even 
though  of  the  moderate  school.  With  Clay  Webster 
had  often  stood  on  common  ground.  More  than  once 
the  Keutuckian  had  manifested  unreservedly  his  respect 
for  Webster's  station  and  ability,  and  the  two  were 
most  of  the  time  on  very  friendly  terms.  Toward  Clay, 
however,  in  the  present  situation  Webster  felt  no  incli 
nation,  perchance,  as  Mr.  Lodge  suggests,  by  reason  of 
a  certain  instinctive  feeling  of  rivalry  between  them. 

The  natural  candidate  to  have  received  Webster's 
support,  anoTEhe  one  who,  through  process  of  elimina- 
tion,  "finally  did  receive  it,  was  Adams.  Between 
Webster  and  Adams  there  was  no  small  community  of 
taste  and  of  ideas.  Circumstances  eventually  com 
pelled  the  one  to  become  the  parliamentary  champion 
of  the  administrative  policies  of  the  other.  As  yet, 
however,  there  existed  between  the  two  men  but  a 
limited  acquaintance ;  and  even  after  acquaintance 
had  ripened,  there  always  lingered  in  the  heart  of  each 
a  certain  distrust  of  the  other.  By  reason  of  his  sup 
port  of  the  Jefferson  administration  in  its  commercial 


150  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

policies  in  1807-1808  aud  his  essentially  independent 
attitude  upon  public  questions  thereafter,  Adams  had 
long  been  out  of  favor  with  the  leaders  of  his  former 
party.  By  many  New  England  Federalists  of  the 
stricter  school  he  had  been,  and  by  not  a  few  he  still 
was,  regarded,  indeed,  as  nothing  short  of  an  arch- 
traitor.  "I  never  did  like  John  Q.  Adams,"  writes 
Ezekiel  Webster  to  his  brother  in  1822.  "  He  must 
have  a  very  objectionable  rival  whose  election  I  should 
uot  prefer.  ...  I  should  really  pr 


Lowndes,  Crawford,  Clinton,  and  fifty  oners  tnat  I 
could  mention.  "  l  Such,  so  far  as  personal  inclination 
went,  was  the  position  of  New  England  Federalists 
very  generally.  At  the  same  time,  by  the  definite  turn 
of  New  England  to  Republicanism.  the  political  position 
of  Adams  in  his  own  section  had  been  vastly  improved. 
From  the  Federalists  he  had  little  to  expect,  but  New 
England  was  no  longer  Federalist,  and  by  1823  he 
found  himself  in  a  position  to  be  supported  by  not  only 
the  lifelong  Republicans  but  also  the  large  mass  of 
Republicans  of  Federalist  autecedents.  He  was  not 
personally  popular,  but  as  the  election  of  1824  drew 
on,  being  the  only  New  England  (and  only  important 
northern)  candidate,  he  was  assured  of  a  very  general 
support  in  Massachusetts  and  adjacent  states.  "I 
think,"  wrote  Ezekiel  Webster,  with  an  air  of  resigna 
tion,  in  the  letter  above  quoted,  "  it  would  be  difficult 
for  any  candidate  to  divide  the  vote  in  New  England 
with  him.  Although  he  may  not  be  very  popular,  yet 
it  seems  to  be  in  some  degree  a  matter  of  necessity  to 
support  him,  if  any  man  is  to  be  taken  from  the  land 
of  the  Pilgrims." 

The  candidate  toward  whom  Daniel  Webster  was 
1  Van  Tyne,  "Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  89. 


IN  CONGKESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          151 

inclines},  so  long  as  there  appeared  anyjghance  of  his 
success,  was  ^Camoun.  April  3,  1823,  a  letter  from 
Ezekiel,  in  repty^to "  specific  inquiry  upon  the  point, 
conveyed  the  opinion  that  of  all  the  persons  who  had 
been  named  for  the  presidency,  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  would  prefer  Adams ;  but  that,  if  he  were 
removed  from  the  field,  Calhoun  would  undoubtedly 
be  their  choice.  In  this  order  of  preference  Ezekiel 
declared  that  he  himself  now,  somewhat  reluctantly, 
concurred.1  As  the  winter  of  1823-1824  progressed  it 
became  increasingly  clear,  however,  that  the  contest 
in  the  end  would  lie  between  Adams  and  Jackson. 
Convinced  that  the  election  of  Calhoun  was  unattain 
able,  Webster  began  advising  the  political  leaders  of 
New  England  to  support  the  South  Carolinian  for  the 
vice-presidency,  and  Calhoun' s  election  to  the  inferior 
office  in  1824  must  be  attributed  in  no  small  measure 
to  influence  from  this  source.  To  his  brother  he 
wrote,  March  14,  1824.  "  I  hope  all  New  England  will 
support  Mr.  Calhouu  for  the  vice-presidency.  If  so, 
he  will  probably  be  chosen,  and  that  will  be  a  great 
thing.  He  is  a  true  man,  and  will  do  good  to  the 
country  in  that  situation."  2 

Between  Adams  and  Jackson  there  seemed  to  Web 
ster  no  possible  choice  except  Adams,  although  Gen 
eral  Jackson's  manners,  he  was  obliged  to  confess,  were 
more  presidential  than  those  of  any  of  the  candidates. 
"  He  is  grave,"  he  writes,  "  mild  and  reserved.  My 
wife  is  for  him  decidedly."  s  Crawford's  chances  he 

1  Ezekiel  to  Daniel  Webster,  April  3,  1823.     Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  323. 

2  Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster,  March  14,  1824.      Ibid.,    Vol.    I, 
p.  347. 

'Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster.  February  22,  1824.  lUd.,  Vol.  I, 
p.  346, 


152  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

rightly  believed  to  have  been  injured  by  his  accept 
ance  of  a  nomination  at  the  hand  of  a  congressional 
caucus.  Against  the  caucus  as  an  institution,  involving, 
as  it  did,  the  assumption  by  a  clique  of  congressmen 
of  the  right  to  dictate  the  presidential  nominee  of  a 
party  or  political  group,  there  was  arising  a  public 
protest  so  vigorous  that  never  again,  as  it  proved, 
would  a  presidential  aspirant  consent  to  enter  upon  a 
race  handicapped  by  a  caucus  nomination.  What 
Webster  himself  thought  of  the  caucus  as  a  political 
device  appears  very  clearly  in  his  correspondence  in 
1823.  On  November  30th  he  wrote  to  Mason  :  "It  ap 
pears  to  me  to  be  our  true  policy  to  oppose  all  cau 
cuses  ;  so  far  our  course  seems  to  me  to  be  clear.  Be 
yond  that  I  do  not  think  we  are  bound  to  proceed  at 
present.  To  defeat  caucus  nominations,  or  prevent 
them,  and  to  give  the  election,  wherever  it  can  be 
done,  to  the  people,  are  the  best  means  of  restoring  the 
body  politic  to  its  natural  and  wholesome  state."  ' 
And  to  his  brother  Ezekiel  he  addressed,  December 
4th,  an  admonition,  apropos  the  forthcoming  New 
Hampshire  state  elections,  to  the  following  effect  : 
"  One  thing  1  hold  to  be  material — get  on  without  a 
caucus.  It  will  only  require  a  little  more  pains.  It 
is  time  to  put  an  end  to  caucuses.  They  make  great 
men  little,  and  little  ineu  great.  The  true  source  of 
power  is  the  people."  2 

The  electoral  vote  of  1824  was  distributed  as  follows  : 
Jackson,  ninety-nine  ;  Adams,  eighty-four  ;  Crawford, 
forty-one  ;  Clay,  thirty-seven.  Final  choice  among 
the  first  three  candidates  devolved  upon  the  House  of 
Representatives.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Webster  had 


1  Van  Tyne,  "Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  93. 

s  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  331. 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          153 

already  arrived  at  the  opinion  thajbj]ie_interest  of  the 
couDtixIdJE^16^  tEedection  of  AdamSjjand  iu  view 
of  the  further  fact  that  the  electoral  votes  of  New  Eng 
land  were  cast  solidly  for  the  Massachusetts  candidate, 
it  followed  as  a  matter  of  course  that  Webster's  sup 
port  iu  the  House  should  be  accorded  to  Adams.  In 
the  interim  preceding  the  House  election,  however, 
various  contingencies  that  might  conceivably  arise 
were  carefully  canvassed.  Under  date  of  January  18, 
1825,  a  series  of  questions  was  addressed  to  Ezekiel  de 
signed  to  elicit  information  which  might  prove  helpful. 
"  If  on  the  first  or  any  subsequent  ballot  Mr.  Adams 
falls  behind  Mr.  Crawford,  and  remains  so  a  day  or 
two,  shall  we  hold  out  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  or 
shall  we  vote  for  one  of  the  highest  ?  If  for  one  of  the 
highest — say  Jackson  and  Crawford — for  which?  Is 
it  advisable,  under  any  circumstances,  to  hold  out  and 
leave  the  chair  to  Mr.  Calhoun  t  Would  or  would  not 
New  England  prefer  a  man  of  the  power  of  Calhoun, 
to  a  choice  of  General  Jackson  f ' ' 1  From  Ezekiel,  and 
from  other  sources,  came  the  opinion  that  New  Eng 
land  would  expect  her  representatives  to  hold  out  for 
Adams  as  long  as  there  should  be  any  chance  of  his 
election. 

The  House  election  was  set  for  February  9th.  Six 
days  in  advance  of  that  date  Henry  K.  Warfield,  a  rep 
resentative  of  Maryland,  feeling  that  his  vote  might 
determine  the  vote  of  his  state,  and  thereby  not  in 
conceivably  the  result  of  the  election,  addressed  to 
Webster,  in  a  note  which  has  been  preserved,  an  in 
quiry  as  to  the  policy  in  relation  to  partisan  interests 
which  the  New  England  candidate,  if  elected,  might  be 
expected  to  put  into  execution.  Warfield  was  identi- 
1  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  111. 


154  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

fied  with  tlie  Maryland  group  of  Federalists,  and  there 
was  among  this  element  grave  apprehension  lest 
Adams  should  "administer  the  government  on  party 
considerations,7'  so  that  the  old  landmarks  of  party 
distinction  should  be  revived  and  all  persons  who  had 
hitherto  been  denominated  "  Federals "  should  be 
denied  a  share  in  public  office.  For  his  own  part, 
Warfield  declared  he  "should  trust  that  Mr.  Adams's 
administration  would  be  conducted  on  liberal  and  in 
dependent  grounds  ;  and  that,  regardless  of  names,  he 
would  not  deny  to  talent,  integrity,  and  competency  a 
due  participation."  The  subject  was  one  of  no  small 
degree  of  interest  to  Webster  himself.  Had  he  be 
lieved  that  Adams  as  president  would  resort  to  a 
proscription  of  men  of  Federalist  antecedents  he  could 
not  at  any  point  have  allowed  himself  to  be  known  as 
an  Adams  man.  "For  myself,"  he  wrote  in  reply, 
February  5th,  "I  am  satisfied,  and  shall  give  him 
[Adams]  my  vote,  cheerfully  and  steadily.  And  I  am 
ready  to  say  that  I  should  not  do  so  if  I  did  not  believe 
that  he  would  administer  the  government  on  liberal 
principles,  not  excluding  Federalists,  as  such,  from  his 
regard  and  confidence.  ...  I  wish  to  see  nothing 
like  a  portioning,  parceling  out,  or  distributing  offices 
of  trust  among  men  called  by  different  denominations. 
Such  a  proceeding  would  be  to  acknowledge  and  to 
regard  the  existence  of  distinctions  ;  whereas  my  wish 
is  that  distinctions  should  be  disregarded. "  l  Before 
transmitting  to  Warfield  his  letter  containing  these 
sentiments  Webster  sought  an  interview  with  Adams, 
laid  the  letter  before  him,  and  secured  from  him  a 
statement  to  the  effect  that  with  all  that  was  said 

1  Webster  to  Warfield,  February  5,  1825.     Webster.    "Private 
Correspondence, "  Vol.  I,  p.  378. 


IN  CONGBESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          155 

therein  he  was  in  complete  agreement.  It  was  under 
stood  between  the  two  that  (assuming  Adams's  elec 
tion),  while  a  cabinet  position  might  not  be  bestowed 
upon  a  Federalist,  some  important  appointment  should 
be  made  expressly  to  manifest  the  Administration's 
disposition  to  disregard  party  distinctions. 

February  9th,  as  had  been  generally  expected,  Adorns 
was  elected  to  the  presidency  by  the  House  on  the  first 
ballot  With  the  result  Webster  was  in  no  wise  dis 
pleased.  "If  there  is  any  faith  in  man,"  he  writes 
to  Ezekiel  a  week  later,  "we  shall  have  a  liberal  ad 
ministration.  I  think  it  not  unlikely  that  if  the  mat 
ter  were  pressed,  there  might  be  a  Federalist  in  the 
cabinet,  but  our  friends  are  not  at  all  satisfied  that  such 
a  measure  would  be  discreet  at  this  moment.  No  doubt 
the  true  course  at  present  is  to  maintain  the  adminis 
tration,  and  give  it  a  fair  chance.  We  may  be  de 
ceived,  but  if  we  are,  it  will  be  a  gross  deception."  l 
Fully  appreciative  of  Webster's  ability  and  prestige, 
Mr.  Adams  as  president  could  not  have  been  otherwise 
than  desirous  of  his  support.  In  his  protestations  of 
non-partisanship  Adams  was  absolutely  sincere,  and 
throughout  the  entire  administration  his  adherence  to 
the  lofty  principles  with  which  he  entered  office  was  so 
rigid  as  to  give  offense  to  very  many  of  the  persons 
who  had  been  responsible  for  his  election.  From  the 
outset  he  took  care  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of 
Webster,  and  between  the  two  men  theje  arose  some 
thing  very  like  cordiality.  During  the  bitter  and  pro 
longed  contests  which  ensued  between  the  President 
and  the  majority  of  Congress  it  devolved  upon  Webster 
to  serve  almost  continuously  on  tEe~floor_of  the  lower 

1  Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster,  February  16,  1825.  Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  381. 


156  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

chamber  as  the^  Administration's  spokesman  and 
champion.  TiPthiscapacity  was  delivered  an  impor 
tant  speech  of  April  14,  1826,  explaining  the  nature  of 
the  forthcoming  Panama  Congress,  interpreting  the 
recently  promulgated  declarations  of  President  Monroe, 
and  defending  the  right  of  the  President  to  appoint 
and  to  instruct  commissioners  to  represent  the  United 
States  at  the  proposed  Congress.1  And  in  a  similar 
capacity,  early  in  the  next  year,  was  delivered  astir- 
ring  defense  of  the  President  in  the  attitude  which  he- 
had  assumed  in  relation  to  the  pending  issues  between 
Georgia  and  the  Creek  Indians.9 

All  of  the  while,  however,  there  lingered  in  the 
background  a  certain  distrust,  cherished  by  both  men, 
but  perhaps  the  more  consciously  by  Webster.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  administration  Webster  appears 
clearly  to  have  had  in  mind  a  possible  appointment  as 
minister  to  Great  Britain.  If  we  are  to  accept  Adams's 
impression,  recorded  in  the  "  Memoirs,"  he  was  indeed 
"  panting  "  for  the  honor.  As  time  passed  all  hope  of 
this,  or  any  other,  appointment  faded.  In  the  interest 
of  congressional  harmony  Adams  intervened  to  dis 
suade  Webster,  furthermore,  from  becoming  a  candidate 
for  the  speakership  of  the  House— a  post  for  which,  in 
truth,  he  cared  but  little.  By  these  and  other  indica 
tions  the  Massachusetts  member  was  brought  to  the 
opinion  that  his  services  were  inadequately  appreciated. 
The  sacrifices  of  time  and  effort  which  he  had  made 
were  heavy,  and  there  was  a  limit  beyond  which  he 
was  not  disposed  to  go.  That  limit  was  pretty  well 
reached  by  the  beginning  of  the  second  half  of  the  ad- 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  178-217  ;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches, "  Vol.  V,  pp.  178-217. 

*  "  Writiugs  aud  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  107-118. 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          157 

ministration,  and  it  was  not  made  more  remote  by  the 
circumstance  that  when,  early  in  1827,  it  was  proposed 
at  Boston  to  elevate  Webster  to  the  Senate  Adams  ex 
pressed  a  decided  preference  that  the  choice  should  fall 
upon  Governor  Lincoln.  This  attitude  was  assumed, 
not  in  disparagement  of  Webster,  it  is  true,  but  rather 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  more  needed  in  the  House 
than  in  the  Senate  ;  yet  the  episode  added  to  the  cool 
ness  between  the  two  men  which  was  already  becoming 
very  perceptible. 

But  for  his  hostility  toward  Jackson,  it  is  probable 
that  the  attitude  of  Webster  during  the  campaign  of 
1828  would  have  been  one  of  thoroughgoing  indiffer 
ence.  In  a  very  real  sense  that  campaign  began  with 
the  inauguration  of  Adams  as  president  in  1825.  It 
reached  its  culminating  stages  of  intensity  in  1827  and 
1828.  The  choice  of  the  country  lay  clearly  between 
Adams  and  Jackson,  with  the  consequence  that  the 
political  alignment  of  the  period  became  one  of  Adams 
men  vs.  Jackson  men.  The  personal  element  was  still 
preponderant,  but  there  was  a  growing  demarcation 
of  principles,  and  in  truth  the  period  was  one  in  which 
political  parties,  for  some  time  virtually  non-existent, 
were  destined  to  spring  up  again,  with  sharply  defined 
programs  and  thoroughgoing  organization.  The  Jack 
son  men  were  becoming  the  democrats  of  later  days  ; 
the  Adams  men,  the  National  Republicans  and  Whigs. 
Webster  was  perforce  drawn  into  the  National  Repub 
lican  party,  and  by  the  logic  of  events  he,  with  Clay, 
was  brought  step  by  step  to  a  position  of  leadership 
within  it.  As  yet,  however,  in  1827  and  1828,  party 
lines  were  not  very  clearly  drawn  and  the  coolness  of 
Webster  toward  Adams  disinclined  him  to  an  active 
participation  in  the  contest  for  the  latter 's  reelection. 


158  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Jacksou  he  disliked  as  heartily  as  ever,  and  it  was 
only  this  consideration  that  influenced  him  to  speak 
and  write  for  Adams.  Unlike  Clay,  he  did  not  believe 
that  Adams  could  be  reflected,  and  in  this  judgment 
he  proved  correct.  From  a  "  cold  sense  of  duty,"  as 
Ezekiel  subsequently  declared,  "and  not  from,  any 
liking  of  the  man,"  New  England  chose  a  full  quota  of 
Adams  electors.  None  the  less,  when  it  became  known 
that  Jackson  was  the  victor  the  Websters  accepted  the 
result  with  equanimity. 

Thro ughoji^he_years^ covered  by_bis_second  period 
of  service  in  the  House  Webster  was  most  of  the  time 
pressed^hard  with  professional  duties...  His  practice 
in  the~Supreme  Court  was  very  large.  During  a  single 
session,  in  the  winter  of  1826-1827,  he  argued  fifteen 
regularly  reported  cases,  in  addition  to  arguments 
made  on  motions ;  and  he  not  infrequently  appeared 
before  inferior  tribunals  throughout  the  eastern  states. 
During  several  years,  furthermore,  he  served  as  lead 
ing  counsel  for  the  prosecution  of  claims  under  the 
Florida  treaty  of  1819  for  indemnification  on  account 
of  spoliations  committed  by  Spanish  cruisers  upon 
American  commerce  in  1788-1 789.  The  commissioners 
appointed  to  adjudicate  these  claims  held  numerous 
sessions  at  Washington  between  1821  and  1826.  The 
subject  was  one  of  unusual  difficulty  and  in  the  prose 
cution  of  the  many  claims  which  were  committed  to 
his  care  Webster  was  obliged  to  undertake  extended 
research  and  to  expend  an  amount  of  labor  often  quite 
disproportioned  to  the  seriousness  of  the  question  in 
volved.  His  fees  for  this  work  alone,  however,  aggre 
gated  seventy  thousand  dollars. 

The  period  was  further  marked  by  a  number  of 
splendid  exhibitions 


IN  CONGRESS  AGAIN,  1823-1827          159 

which  two— thejkmker  Hill  address  of  June  17,  1825, 
and  the  eulogy  on  Adams  and  Jefferson  of  August  2, 
1826 — stand  out  with  special  prominence.  There  had 
been  for  some  years  in  Boston  a  Bunker  Hill  Monu 
ment  Association,  whose  object  was  to  bring  about  the 
erection  of  a  shaft  commemorative  of  the  battle  of  June 
17,  1775,  and,  in  general,  to  keep  alive  a  public  sense 
of  gratitude  toward  the  patriots  and  leaders  of  the 
Revolution.  As  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  battle 
drew  near  it  was  planned  to  celebrate  the  day  in  a  pe 
culiarly  worthy  manner  by  laying  the  corner-stone  of 
the  proposed  monument.  Webster,  who  at  the  time 
was  president  of  the  Association,  was  chosen  unani 
mously  by  his  fellow-trustees  to  deliver  the  principal 
address.  The  interest  of  the  occasion  was  increased 
by  the  presence  of  General  Lafayette.  The  day  was 
one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of  Boston. 
The  weather  was  perfect  and  the  outpouring  of  people 
tremendous.  A  procession  from  the  State  House  to 
the  Hill ;  an  oration  such  as  only  a  Webster  could  de 
liver  ;  an  outdoor  dinner  on  the  neighboring  hill,  with 
toasts  by  Webster,  Lafayette,  and  others ;  and  in  the 
evening  a  grand  reception  at  the  Webster  house  in 
Summer  Street — such  were  the  proceedings  of  a  clay 
long  remembered  by  those  who  had  part  in  them.  It 
was  always  the  opinion  of  Webster  that  the  oration  at 
Plymouth  surpassed  that  delivered  at  Bunker  Hill. 
In  the  breadth  of  its  sweep,  and  in  the  quality  of 
majesty,  it  undeniably  did  so.  In  sheer  eloquence, 
however,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  anything  that 
Webster  ever  uttered  surpassed  his  address  upon  the 
later  occasion  to  the  survivors  of  the  battle,  his  apos 
trophe  to  General  Warron,  and  his  encomium  of  La 
fayette.  Like  many  of  Webster's  greatest  speeches, 


160  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  Bunker  Hill  discourse  was  thought  out  ID  all  o:r 
its  larger  aspects  far  from  books  and  manuscripts — 
in  this  instance  during  the  course  of  a  day's  fishing  ii 
the  Marshpee  Kiver.     Its  details,  however,  were  the 
ground  of  much  solicitude,  and  even  after  its  delivery 
the  author  consumed  no  small  amount  of  time  in  the. 
revision  of  his  manuscript  preparatory  to  printing. 
The  address,  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Monumeni 
Association,  was  given  a  wide  circulation,  being  trans 
lated,    indeed,   almost  immediately  into  French   anc 
other  languages,  "to  the  very  great  profit,''7  so  Lafay 
ette  wrote,  "of  European  readers." 

On  July  4,  1826,  there  occurred  within  the  space  of 
a  few  hours  the  death_o£  John  Adams  at  Quiucy  and 
of  Thomas  Jefferson  at  Montlcello. Throughout  the 
country  there  wereTield  commemorative  meetings,  and 
in  Boston  the  municipal  authorities  requested  Webster 
to  pronounce,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  a  putilic^discourse  upon 
the  careers  and  services  of  the  two  men.  ~~Tn  the  pres 
ence  of  the  dignitaries  of  state  and  city,  and  of  a  con 
course  of  citizens  who  struggled,  in  large  part  vainly, 
to  gain  admission  to  the  hall,  the  eulogy  was  delivered, 
August  2d.  "Mr.  Webster  spoke/'  records  an  auditor 
(Mr.  Ticknor),  "in  an  orator's  gown  and  wore  small 
clothes.  He  was  in  the  perfection  of  his  manly  beauty 
and  strength  ;  his  form  filled  out  to  its  finest  propor- 
tions,  and  his  bearing,  as  he  stood  before  the  vast 
multitude,  that  of  absolute  dignity  and  power.  His 
manuscript  lay  on  a  small  table  near  him,  but  I  think 
he  did  not  once  refer  to  it.  His  manner  of  speaking 
was  deliberate  and  commanding.  When  he  came  to 
the  passage  on  eloquence,  and  to  the  words,  'It  is 

!For  the  speech  see  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  79-108  ; 
"Writings  and  Speeches/'  Vol.  I,  pp.  233-254. 


IN  CONGBESS  AGAIX,  1823-1827          161 

action,  noble,  sublime,  godlike  action, '  he  stamped  his 
foot  repeatedly  on  the  stage,  his  form  seemed  to  dilate, 
and  he  stood,  as  that  whole  audience  saw  and  felt,  the 
personification  of  what  he  so  perfectly  described.  I 
never  heard  him  when  his  manner  was  so  grand  and 
appropriate."1  When  the  oration  was  concluded  the 
pent-up  feeling  of  the  audience  burst  forth  in  three 
mighty  cheers,  inappropriate  enough  to  the  occasion, 
yet  by  no  means  without  excuse.  The  portion  of  the 
address  which  attracted  most  attention  subsequently 
was  that  in  which  there  was  put  in  the  mouth  of  John 
Adams  a  supposititious  speech  in  behalf  of  American 
independence  and  in  that  of  an  unnamed  opponent  a 
similar  argument  in  opposition  to  so  boldly-conceived 
a  policy.  With  such  consummate  skill  and  realism 
was  the  thing  done  that  even  as  late  as  1851  men  were 
still  inquiring  whether  the  utterances  ascribed  to  the 
orators  of  1776  might  not  be  real,  despite  long-con 
tinued  effort  of  Webster  and  his  friends  to  make  clear 
the  actual  character  of  the  speeches  in  question.  "I 
will  tell  you,"  confessed  Webster  to  President  Fillmore 
upon  one  occasion  near  the  end  of  his  life,  "what  is 
not  generally  known.  I  wrote  that  speech  [the  one 
ascribed  to  Adams]  one  morning  before  breakfast,  in 
my  library,  and  when  it  was  finished  my  paper  was 
wet  with  my  tears."  "  Your  attempt,"  wrote  Eichard 
Bush,  "to  pass  the  doors  of  that  most  august  sanctu 
ary,  the  Congress  of  '76,  and  become  a  listener  and 
reporter  of  its  immortal  debates,  was  extremely  bold, 
extremely  hazardous.  Nothing  but  success  could  have 
justified  it ;  and  you  have  succeeded." a 

Quoted  in  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  275. 

2 Rush  to  Webster,  August  30,  1826.  Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  280.  For 
thfi  text  of  the  speech  see  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol  I,  pp  109- 
150;  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  289-324. 


162  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Life  in  these  years  was  too  much  crowded  with  work 
to  permit  of  much  diversion.  In  December,  1824, 
however,  Webster  was  one  of  a  small  party  that  paid 
a  visit  to  Jefferson  and  Madison  at  their  Virginia 
homes.  At  Monticello  the  travelers  were  detained  up 
ward  of  a  week  by  bad  weather,  so  that  opportunity 
for  conversation  with  "  the  sage"  was  extended;  and 
subsequently  Webster  took  occasion  to  commit  to 
writing  a  memorandum  of  this  conversation  which  is 
of  no  inconsiderable  interest.1  Webster  and  Madison 
were,  of  course,  old  acquaintances,  and  it  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  after  his  return  to  Washington  Webster 
confided  to  Mr.  Ticknor  that  Madison's  conversation 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  recent  visit  had  confirmed 
him  in  an  opinion  he  had  for  some  time  entertained, 
"that  Mr.  Madison  was  the  wisest  of  our  Presidents, 
except  Washington. "  In  June  and  July,  1825,  Webster- 
was  a  member  of  a  party  that  journeyed  by  stage 
coach  and  Erie  Canal  passenger-boat  by  way  of  Albany 
to  Niagara  Falls.  Besides  Webster  himself,  the  party 
consisted  of  Mrs.  Webster,  Judge  and  Mrs.  Story,  and 
Miss  Buckminster  (afterward  Mrs.  Lee).  At  Albany 
Webster  and  Story  met  Lafayette  at  a  public  dinner. 
Numerous  letters  written  from  Niagara  Falls  abound  in 
splendid  accounts  of  the  scenery  of  the  region,  evincing 
not  merely  the  descriptive  art  that  one  might  expect 
in  so  consummate  a  master  of  English  but  also  a  fresh 
and  boundless  love  of  Nature  and  an  appreciation  of 
her  humblest  as  well  as  of  her  grandest  works. 

Printed  in  Webster,  "Private  Correspondence, "  Vol.  I,  pp. 
364-373. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  TARIFF 

IN  the  year  ^827  it  devolved  upon  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts  to  elect  a  successor  to  Elijah  H.  Mills  in 
the  United  States  Senate.  By  reason  of  his  precarious 
health,  grave  doubt  arose  as  to  whether  Mr.  Mills 
could  be,  or  should  be,  induced  to  accept  a  second 
term.  Mouths  in  advance  of  the  election  members  of 
the  legislature  began  to  canvass  the  field  in  search 
of  another  candidate,  and  early  in  the  course  of  this 
search  the  name  of  Webster  was  very  naturally  sug 
gested.  To  a  member  who  had  addressed  him  upon 
the  subject  Webster,  under  date  of  January  10,  1827, 
advocated  very  strongly  the  immediate  reelection  of 
Mills,  or,  in  lieu  of  that,  a  postponement  of  the  choice 
until  the  ensuing  June,  in  the  hope  that  the  senator's 
health  would  at  that  time  more  clearly  warrant  his 
reelection.  "For  mercy's  sake,"  he  urged,  "do  not 
weaken  our  power  in  the  Senate  !  When  all  the  Phi 
listines  are  against  us,  do  let  us  have  all  the  strength 
we  can  have.  If  Mr.  Mills  lives,  he  is  second  to  no 
man  in  the  Senate  among  our  friends.  Why,  then, 
should  he  be  now  superseded  1  .  .  .  I  can  only 
say  that  if  you  are  governed  by  a  disposition  to  sustain 
Mr.  Adams,  and  help  on  the  public  business,  you  will, 
in  all  events,  elect  a  man  of  the  very  best  talents  which 
are  at  your  disposal.  I  pray  you  let  uo  local,  nor 
temporary,  nor  any  small  consideration  induce  you  to 
refrain  from  electing  the  fittest  man  that  can  be  found, 


164  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  that  can  possibly  be  prevailed  on  to  take  the 
place.  The  present  moment,  be  assured,  is  a  crisis  in 
the  affairs  of  Massachusetts  and  all  the  North."  l 

During  its  winter  session  the  legislature  arrived  at 
no  conclusion  in  the  matter  of  the  senatorship.  The 
Senate  went  so  far  as  to  make  choice  of  Levi  Lincoln, 
then  governor  of  the  commonwealth  ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  a  communication  addressed  to  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  declined  to  permit  his  name 
to  be  used  further,  and  there  the  matter  rested.  During 
the  months  which  intervened  prior  to  the  reassembling 
of  the  legislature  in  June,  Webster  was  urged  by  mem 
bers  and  by  friends  at  Washington  to  allow  himself  to 
be  considered  a  candidate  j  and,  over  the  protest  of 
many  persons  of  influence,  who,  in  some  instances  for 
partisan  and  in  others  for  broadly  patriotic  reasons, 
believed  that  he  was  of  larger  service  in  the  lower 
house  than  he  could  well  be  in  the  upper  one,  he  was 
brought  gradually  to  a  decision  to  accept  the  senator- 
ship  if  it  should  be  urged  upon  him.  In  May  he  wrote 
to  Lincoln  urging  that  he  consent  to  be  chosen  to 
Mr.  Mills's  seat.  " There  are,"  he  declared,  "many 
strong  personal  reasons,  and,  as  friends  think  (and  as 
I  think,  too),  some  public  reasons,  why  I  should  de 
cline  the  offer  of  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  if  it  should  be 
made  to  me. "  2  The  consideration  of  a  public  character 
to  which  allusion  was  made  was  that,  in  the  critical 
situation  of  the  time,  the  Administration  ought  to  be 
strengthened  in  both  houses,  and  that  this  end  might 
be  best  attained  by  the  accession  of  a  senator  of  the 

1  Webster  to  Joseph  E.  Sprague,  January  10,  1827.  Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  414. 

'Webster  to  Levi  Lincoln,  May  22,  1827.  Quoted  in  Curtis, 
"Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  293. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  TARIFF          165 

calibre  of  Governor  Lincoln,  rather  than  by  the  mere 
translation  of  Webster  himself  from  the  one  house 
to  the  other.  Governor  Lincoln,  however,  remained 
steadfast  in  his  refusal  and  insisted  that  for  the  public 
good  Webster  should  consent  to  his  own  promotion. 
The  upshot  was  that  when  the  legislature  reassembled, 
in  June,  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  202  out  of  328,  ami 
the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  26  out  of  39,  conferred 
upon  Webster  the  senatorshipfor  the  term  beginning 
March  llh  previous. We  have  it  on  the  authority  of 
Clay  that,  inuch  as  Adams  valued  Webster's  influence 
in  the,  House,  the  President's  wish  had  come  to  be 
that,  in  the  event  of  Governor  Lincoln's  final  refusal, 
the  choice  should  fall  upon  Webster.  Administration 
members  of  the  lower  branch,  however,  lamented 
keenly  the  loss  of  leadership  arising  from  the  transfer. 
The  election  to  the  Senate  in  1827  has  been  correctly 
appraised  by  Mr.  Curtis  as  a  turning-point  in  Web 
ster's  life.  For,  while  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  his  service  in  the  House  of  Representatives  might 
not  have  been  prolonged  and  increasingly  honorable, 
it  none  the  less  is  true  that,  "whatever  may  have 
hitherto  been  his  inclination  or  his  power  to  withdraw 
from  all  public  station,  his  entrance  into  the  Senate 
must  be  considered  as  having  fixed  for  the  remainder 
of  his  days,  andjbrtunately  or  unfortunatergTdr~  his 
personaT~Bappiness  and_^elfarej__his__position  as  a 
statesmaiTwho  beTonged^to  the  country,  and  for  whom, 
heucefofth71)fivate  life  was  to  be  a  matter  of  intervals 
and  episodes."  l  x  In  the  oft-expressed  reluctance  of 
Webster  to  surrender  himself  to  the  exigencies  of  a 
public  career  it  is  not  difficult  to  detect  a  note  of  sin 
cerity.  The  demands  of  public  service  interfered  con- 

1  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  290. 


166  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

stantly  with  the  practice  of  a  chosen  profession.  They 
not  merely  precluded  that  singleness  of  devotion  which 
would  have  brought  well-nigh  unrivaled  preeminence  ; 
they  involved  steady  sacrifice  of  pecuniary  advance 
ment.  Despite  his unusual money-making  talent, 

Webster  dieoT~a  po_or_inan2  andjuot  liTone  because  he 
habitually  lacked  thrift  when  fin^HciaT~a^atrs  were 
involved,  ~but  largely  by  jreaSQiT of  his  long-continued 
absorption  in  public  service.  The  demands  of  a  pub 
lic  career,  too,  _not  infrequently  ran  counter  to  the 
domestic~Eastes  and  interests^TucT"wereTt  all  times 
in  Webster  IiTglily  oTeveloped.  *  Despite  all  of  these 
considerations,  however,  it  cannot  be  maintained  that 
Webster  was  in  his  public  lifejinhapjDy.  Impelled  by 
that  same  frankly  owned  ambition  which  had  consti 
tuted  the  mainspring  of  his  life  from  earty  boyhood,  Le 
inwardly  exulted  in  every  broadening  of  his  field  of 
opportunity.  He  loved ..power, jeminenceji^nd  adula 
tion,  and  his  desire  for  public  station  grew  as  the 
years  passed  by,  until  in  the  end,  as  will  appear, 
nothing  short  of  the  presidency  itself  could  be  made 
to  satisfy  him. 

In  the  midst  of  wide-spread  felicitation  upon  his 
election  to  the  Senate,  Webster  was  plunged  into  the 
depths  of  domestic  distress.  During  the  summer  of 
1827,  Mrs.  Webster, ~~who  for  some  time  had  been 
nfflicted  wifh  a  tumor,  declined  perceptibly  in  health  ; 
and  although  a  few  weeks  spent  at  Sandwich  seemed 
to  give  her  fresh  vigor,  when,  in  December,  in  company 
with  her  husband,  she  set  out  from  Boston  for  Wash 
ington  her  state  was  such  as  to  occasion  grave  concern. 
The  journey  to  New  York  proved  taxing,  and  two 
physicians  of  that  city,  on  being  called  into  consulta 
tion,  could  offer  no  ground  for  expectation  of  an  nlti- 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  TAEIFP         167 

mate  recovery.  "I  hope,"  wrote  the  grief-stricken 
husband  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Paige,  l  ;  I  may  be 
able  to  meet  the  greatest  of  all  earthly  afflictions  with 
firmness,  but  I  need  not  say  that  I  am  at  present  quite 
overcome.'7 1  Two  weeks  of  treatment  yielded  no  very 
encouraging  result,  although  the  patient's  condition 
seemed  to  grow  no  worse.  Sick  at  heart,  and  himself 
all  but  disabled  by  an  attack  of  rheumatism,  Webster 
pressed  on  to  Washington,  in  the  hope  that  Mrs. 
Webster  might  subsequently  be  able  to  follow  in  the 
company  of  Judge  and  Mrs.  Story.  The  hope  was 
vain,  and  on  the  4th  of  January,  Webster  returned 
to  New  York.  A  succession  of  letters  written  during 
the  ensuing  two  weeks  to  relatives  and  close  friends 
record  with  pathetic  iucisiveness  the  alternations  of 
hope  and  despair,  the  effort  to  temper  the  painful  facts 
of  the  situation  and  the  struggle  to  accept  them  with 
resignation,  which  filled  the  life  of  the  anxious  husband 
during  these  days.  January  21st  the  end  came. 
When  the  funeral  party  returned,  to  iiostoif, "Webster 
and  his  children  stayed,  both  before  and  after  the 
burial,  at  the  home  of  a  close  friend,  Mr.  George 
Blake,  in  Summer  Street.  Mrs.  Webster's  remains 
were  placed  with  those  of  her  children,  Grace  and 
Charles,  in  a  tomb  beneath  St.  Paul's  Church.  At  the 
hour  of  the  funeral,  says  Mr.  Ticknor  in  his  "  Reminis 
cences,"  Webster  "took  Julia  and  Daniel  in  either 
hand  and  walked  close  to  the  hearse  through  the  streets 
to  the  church  in  whose  crypt  the  interment  took  place. 
It  was  a  touching  and  solemn  sight.  He  was  excess 
ively  pale."  The  day  was  wet  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  persuade  the  husband  to  ride  in  one  of  the 

1  Webster  to  Paige,  December  5,  1827.    Webster,  "  Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  424, 


168  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

carriages.  "No,"  was  his  reply,  "my  children  and  I 
must  follow  their  mother  to  the  grave  on  foot.7' 
Among  the  numerous  friends  of  the  family  in  and 
around  Boston  homes  were  found  for  the  three  children, 
Julia,  Daniel  Fletcher,  and  Edward ; 1  and,  having 
closM^is'liousei^VeBstei'  was  able  within  three  weeks 
to  return  to  Washington  to  resume  his  duties  in  the 
Senate.  The  remainder  of  the  winter  brought  little  of 
interest.  Even  when  conditions  were  in  every  re 
spect  favorable  it  was  not  infrequently  with  difficulty 
that  Webster  overcame  a  certain  innate  disposition  to 
lethargy,  and  it  is  not  remarkable  that  under  the  im 
pact  of  the  blow  that  had  befallen  him  he  continued 
for  some  time  as  one  whose  every  impetus  had  dis 
appeared.  "I  feel,"  he  writes,  "a  vacuum,  an  in 
difference,  a  want  of  motive,  which  I  cannot  well 
describe.  I  hope  my  children,  and  the  society  of  my 
best  friends,  may  rouse  me  ;  but  I  can  never  see  such 
days  as  I  have  seen."  2 

The  comparative  inactivity  of  Webster  during  his 
earlier  mouths  in  the  Senate  is  to  be  accounted  for  not 
solely  upon  the  ground  of  personal  bereavement.  Pro 
fessional  duties,  postponed  in  some  instances  by  reason 
of  Mrs.  Webster's  illness  and  death,  absorbed  a  con 
siderable  amount  of  time.  As  a  newcomer,  further 
more,  in  the  upper  chamber  he  was  disposed  to  pro 
ceed  cautiously,  although,  it  is  true,  he  was  moved  to 
speak  at  some  length  upon  a  pending  question  as  early 
as  the  second  day  after  assuming  his  seat.  Finally, 
there  was  the  conviction  that  the  elements  of  opposi 
tion  were  too  formidable  to  be  overcome  by  any 

1  A  son,  Charles,  born  in  1822,  died  December  18,  1824. 
*  Webster  to  Mrs.  E.  B.  Lee,  May  18,  1828.     Webster,  "Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  458. 


IK  THE  SENATE  :   THE  TABIFF         169 

amount  of  parliamentary  activity.  By  the  close  of 
1827  the  anti-administration  forces,  i.  e. ,  the  large  and 
varied  elements  inclined  to  the  support  of  Jackson, 
were  in  effectual  control  in  both  branches  of  Congress, 
and  between  the  President  and  the  opposition  majority 
there  was  incessant  conflict  and  at  times  prolonged 
deadlock.  ' l  According  to  present  appearances, ' '  Web 
ster  writes,  December  17,  1827,  "there  will  be  little 
for  me  to  do.  Our  adversaries  undoubtedly  have  a 
majority,  and  I  think  the  true  course  is  to  let  them 
exercise  it  as  seems  to  them  good.  Why  should  we  be 
responsible  for  what  we  cannot  control  ?  "  l 

Upon  an  occasional  legislative  issue,  none  the  less, 
Webster  was  roused  to  the  point  of  participation  in 
debate,  notably  upon  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  surviving 
officers  of  the  Eevolution,  which,  largely  through  his 
effort,  was  enacted  into  law.2  But  the  one  subjgct 
upjpn  whichjie  was  stirrej.  to  his  best  effort  at  this 
time  was  the  tariff.  It  was  in  the  course  of  the  debate 
upon  the  tariff  act  of  1828  that  he  abandoned  his  earlier 
attitude  o^op^sitio^ojp^otectionism^CTfor  thelirsT " 
time  gave  his  support  unreservedly  to  a  measure 
founded  upon  that  principle!  In  tfieTTi story  of  the 
tariff,  no  less  than  in  the'sEaping  of  Webster's  public 
career,  the  event  was  one  of  unusual  importance  ;  so 
that  it  becomes  necessary  at  this  point,  first,  to  review 
the  earlier  course  of  Webster  in  relation  to  tariff  legis 
lation  and,  secondly,  to  examine  in  some  detail  the 
circumstances  of  the  volte-face  of  182^ 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  Alexander  Hamil- 


1  Webster  to  Mills,  December  19, 1827.  Webster,  * '  Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  428. 

*  See  speech  of  April  25,  1828.  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol. 
V,  pp.  218-227. 


170  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ton  was  the  founder  of  Federalism  ;  and  one  of  tht 
arguments  upon  which  Hamilton,  in  his  remarkable 
Keport  on  Manufactures,  submitted  to  Congress  Janu 
ary  5,  1791,  laid  greatest  stress  was  that  for  the  due 
development  of  the  industries  of  a  new  country  such  at 
the  United  States  the  imposition  of  protective  tariff 
rates  is  a  practical  necessity.  In  New  England,  how 
ever,  which  early  became  the  principal  stronghold  oi' 
Federalism,  the  protective  idea  was  from  the  outset 
unpopular.  It  was  not  that  a  tariff  for  protection 
was  considered  unconstitutional.  The  liberal  views* 
entertained  by  all  Federalists  respecting  the  powers  of 
the  general  government  left  small  room  for  a  denial  oJ 
the  power  to  impose  protective  duties.  The  objection 
with  which  Hamilton's  proposed  policy  was  met  arose 
rather  from  a  doubt  as  to  the  expediency  of  protection 
upon  general  principles  and,  more  particularly,  from 
the  free-trade  proclivities  of  a  predominantly  commer 
cial  people,  running  sharply  counter  as  they  did  to  a 
policy  whose  adoption  would  have  for  its  avowed  ob 
ject  the  liberating  of  the  nation  from  a  dependence 
upon  the  importation  of  foreign  goods.  Prior  to  the 
War  of  1812  the  question  of  protection  entered  but 
slightly,  if  at  all,  into  the  deliberations  of  Congress. 
There  are  students  of  the  subject  who  maintain  that 
into  the  earliest  of  all  of  our  tariff  acts  under  the  Con 
stitution,  that  of  1789,  the  element  of  protection  was 
deliberately  injected.  The  view  probably  arises,  how 
ever,  from  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  protectionists 
of  a  later  day  to  read  back  into  this  original  act  an 
element  which  they  are  at  least  pleased  to  believe  was 
in  it.  Certainly,  as  a  general  proposition,  it  can  be 
maintained  that  of  all  the  varied  features  of  the 
Hamilton  scheme  of  public  finance  the  one  alone  which 


IN  THE  SENATE  :   THE  TAKIFF         171 

was  deliberately  rejected  was  that  pertaining  to  the 
imposition  of  a  protective  tariff.  Until  the  War  of 
1812  the  tariff  continued  a  means  simply  of  raising- 
re  venue  ;  and  when,  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
Congress  voted  to  double  all  existing  duty  rates,  the 
sole  consideration  was  still  the  procuring  of  funds.  It 
was  only  at  the  close  of  the  war,  when  by  the  reopen 
ing  of  commercial  relations  with  Great  Britain  the 
newly  risen  manufacturing  industries  of  the  United 
States  seemed  on  the  point  of  untimely  extinction, 
that  there  arose  that  wide-spread  and  persistent  demand 
for  the  adoption  of  a  policy  of  protection  which  cul 
minated  in  the  important  legislation  of  1816. 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  Webster's  earlier  views 
respecting  the  tariff  werejn  allj'espects  those  of  com 
mercial  New  England.  In  1814,  in  rejoinder  to  an 
argument  by  Calhoun  in  favor  of  the  continuance  of 
the  existing  double  duties  as  a  protective  measure, 
Webster,  then  but  lately  become  a  member  of  the 
House,  was  impelled  to  express  himself  with  force  upon 
what  he  and  his  constituents  regarded  as  the  artificial 
stimulation  of  manufactures.  t  i  In  respect  to  manu 
factures^  he  said,  "  it  is  necessary  to  speak  with  some 
precision.  I  am  not,  generally  speaking,  their 
enemy  ;  I  am" 'thejFTrft&d ;  but  I  am  not,  for  rearing 
them  or  any  other  interest  in~hot-beds. TwoulcTnot 
legtsTate~precipitately,'^ven  in  favor  of  them  ;  above 
all,  I  would  not  profess  intentions  in  relation  to  them 
which  I  did  not  purpose  to  execute.  I  feel  no  desire 
to  push  capital  into  extensive  manufactures  faster  than 
the  general  progress  of  our  wealth  and  population 
propels  it.  I  am  not  in  haste  to  see  Sheffields  and 
Birminghams  in  America.  Until  the  population  of 
the  country  shall  be  greater  in  proportion  to  its  extent, 


172  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

such  establishments  would  be  impracticable  if  at 
tempted,  and  if  practicable  they  would  be  unwise.'' 
At  considerable  length  he  went  on  to  argue  two  funda 
mental  propositions — first,  that  agriculture,  possessec. 
of~lmmerous  advantages  j>ver  manufacturiiigT  shoult 
remain  forever  in  America  the  normal_occupation  for 
the  great  mass  of  citizens,  and,  seconcT,  that thegoyern 
ment  ought  not  to  seek  to  control  or  to^alter  the 
natural  industrial  proclivities  of  tbelpeopTeT  * i  It  is,' 
he  declared,'  "  the  true  policy  of  government  to  suffer 
the  different  pursuits  of  society  to  take  their  owi 
course,  and  not  to  give  excessive  bounties  or  encour 
agements  to  one  over  another.  This,  also,  is  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Constitution.  It  has  not,  in  my  opinion, 
conferred  on  the  government  the  power  of  changing 
the  occupations  of  the  people  of  different  states  and 
sections,  and  of  forcing  them  into  other  employments. ' ' 
The  attitude  maintained  by  Webster  at  this  point  was, 
it  is  clear,  not  one  of  hostility  to  the  development  of 
manufactures  under  the  gradual  operation  of  enduring 
economic  causes.  It  was,  rather,  as  it  has  been  char 
acterized,  an  attitude  of  laissez  faire,  arising  from  the 
fundamental  consideration  that  while  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  government  to  protect  all  legitimate  occupations, 
it  is  neither  constitutional  nor  expedient  lor  it  to  ex 
tend  its  beneficence  to  one  occupation  more  than  to  an 
other. 

At  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  the  tariff  law  of 
1816  Webster  contented  himself  with  a  series  of  attacks 
upon  individual  items  and  was  successful  in  procuring 
some  reductions  of  the  original  schedules.  He  voted 
against  the  measure,  although  he  was  compelled  to 
recognize  that  in  doing  so  he  was  opposing  the  wish 
of  a  very  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  country. 


IN  THE  SENATE :  THE  TAEIPF         173 

From  1817  to  1823  he  was  out  of  Congress,  and  during 
that  period  there  arose  but  one  occasion  upon  which 
opportunity  was  afforded  for  a  notable  pronouncement 
upon  the  tariif  question.  That  came  in  1820.  Under 
the  stimulus  of  the  act  of  1816  cotton^woolen,  and_ 
other  kinds  of  manufactures  exhibited.^  remarkable 
growthj_althcugh  there  was  complaint  almost  from  the 
beginning  that  the  rates  which  finally  had  been  deter 
mined  upon  were  inadequate.  In  1818  it  was  voted 
by  Congress  not  to  allow  to  go  into  operation  the 
reduction  which  the  act  of  1816  had  set  for  1819,  and 
a  period  of  business  depression  in  1818-1819  gave 
occasion  for  an  insistent  demand  from  manufacturing 
interests  for  a  new  tariff  schedule,  with  increased  rates. 
In  the  spring  of  1820  Henry  Baldwin,  representing 
the  district  in  which  Pittsburgh  was  located,  brought 
forward  in  the  House  a  bill  of  a  more  thoroughgoing 
protectionist  character  than  any  which  as  yet  had  been 
seriously  advocated.  Under  its  terms  ad  valorem  duties 
were  increased  by  proportions  varying  from  twenty- 
five  to  sixty -six  per  cent.  Employing  principally  his 
favorite  argument  in  behalf  of  the  extension  of  home 
markets  for  raw  materials  and  foodstuffs,  Clay  de 
fended  this  measure  in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
his  numerous  tariff  speeches.  In  the  House  the  bill 
was  passed  by  a  vote  of  ninety-one  to  seventy-eight. 

The  vote  of  New  England  was  almost  exactly  evenly 
divided — eighteen  in  favor  and  seventeen  opposed. 
The  representatives  of  Rhode  Island  voted  solidly  for 
the  bill.  With  a  single  exception,  those  of  Connec 
ticut  did  the  same.  Khode  Island  and  Connecticut 
were  fast  becoming  manufacturing  states,  and  accord 
ingly  they  were  inclining  ever  more  strongly  to  the 
protectionist  point  of  view.  Of  the  members  from 


174  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Massachusetts  proper  only  three  voted  against  the  bill, 
and  they  represented  the  commercial  districts  aboul 
Boston  and  Salem.  That  portion  of  Massachusetts 
subsequently  set  off  as  the  state  of  Maine  registered 
four  votes  in  opposition.  New  iiaurpshire  and  Ver 
mont,  save  for  a  single  vote  from  the  latter  state,  were 
solidly  opposed.  The  significant  thing  regarding  tht 
2^ew  England  vote  was  the  extent  to  winchjhe_£eceutly 
developed  "interest  in_  manufactures  jw^s_jbe^innhig  tc 
telTTiT tariff  legislation.  For  the  first  time  the  section 
declared  as  a  whole,  even  though  by  tlae  narrowest 
possible  majority,  for^protectiou.  By  a  single  vote,  on 
a  motion  to  postpone,  the  Baldwin  Bill  was  lost  in  the 
Senate.  The  friends  of  the  measure  at  once,  however, 
set  about  preparation  to  reopen  the  issue  at  the  next 
session,  and  the  country  understood  that  the  question 
was  but  deferred. 

During  the  summer  of  1820  public  meetings  were 
held  in  various  places,  some  to  promote  and  some  to 
organize  opposition  to  the  proposed  legislation.  At  a 
gathering  of  the  second  type  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  in 
Boston  on  October  2d,  Webster  was  invited  to  be  pres 
ent  and  to  speak.  The  meeting  was  called  by  men 
whose  interests  lay  in  agriculture  and  commerce,  and 
the  resolutions  adopted  at  the  close  of  the  proceedings 
comprised  a  forceful  declaration  of  free- trade  doctrine. 
In  an  able  speech  in  support  of  these  resolutions  Web 
ster  took  occasion  to  present  at  length  his  views 
respecting  the  unconstitutionally  of  such  a  protective 
measure  as  that  which  had  recently  passed  the  House. 
As  a  rule  the  advocates  of  protectionism  had  main 
tained  hitherto  that  the  power  to  lay  a  protective 
tariff  was  incidental  to  the  power  to  lay  and  collect 
taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises.  In  his  Faueuil 


IN  THE  SENATE :  THE  TARIFF          175 

Hall  speech  Webster  argued  that  if  protection  is  an 
incident  to  revenue,  the  incident  cannot  fairly  be 
carried  beyond  the  principal,  and  that  duties  laid 
solely  or  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  affording  pro 
tection  to  domestic  manufactures  fall  outside  the  scope 
of  the  power  under  which  it  was  claimed  they  might 
be  imposed.  In  some  quarters  there  was  an  attempt 
to  defend  the  constitutionality  of  protection  upon  gen 
eral  grounds,  or  upon  specific  grounds  independent  of 
the  taxing  power.  It  was  the  contention  of  Clay,  for 
example,  that  the  power  to  lay  a  protective  tariff  is  to 
be  deriyed  from  the  power  which  is  given  Congress 
to  regulate  foreign  commerce.  Against  all  such  argu 
ments,  however,  Webster  entered  protest.  There  was, 
he  maintained,  no  "substantial  and  direct"  power  in 
virtue  of  which  a  protective  tariff  could  be  laid.  "  It 
would  hardly  be  contended,"  he  declared,  "that  Con 
gress  possessed  that  sort  of  general  power  by  which  it 
might  declare  that  particular  occupations  should  be 
pursued  in  society  and  that  others  should  not.  If  such 
power  belonged  to  any  government  in  this  country,  it 
certainly  did  not  belong  to  the  general  government." 

As  to  the  inexpediency  of  protection  Webster's  opin- 
ious  had^uudergone  no  change.  Manufactures  he  be- 
lieveU~to~t>e~  lirthemselves  only  moderately  desirable. 
For  Clay's  idea  that  American  manufactures  ought  to 
be  developed  in  the  interest  of  national  independence 
he  had  nothing  but  ridicule.  The  effects  of  the  rapid 
growth  of  manufactures,  it  seemed  to  him,  were  likely 
to  be  but  the  unwholesome  concentration  of  capital, 
the  making  of  the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer, 
and  the  increase  15F social  injustice  and  misery.  Even 
if  such  a^  development  wei'e  "desirable,  and  if  there 
1  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  5-22. 


176  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

existed  an  indubitable  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
federal  government  to  promote  it  by  a  policy  of  protec 
tion,  a  measure  such  as  that  for  which  manufacturing 
interests  were  clamoring  would  be  unjust.  Its  adop 
tion  would  be  unfair  to  the  numerous  manufacturers 
who  were  not  extended  its  supposed  advantages,  and 
in  its  operation  it  would  constitute  an  agency  of  gross 
and  indefensible  favoritism.  Its  effect  would  be  to 
increase  both  the  cost  of  living  and  the  burden  of  tax 
ation.  "  In  truth,"  it  was  contended,  "  every  man  in 
the  community  not  immediately  benefited  by  the  new 
duties  would  suffer  a  double  loss.  In  the  first  place, 
by  shutting  out  the  foreign  commodity,  the  price  of 
the  domestic  manufacture  would  be  raised.  The  con 
sumer,  therefore,  must  pay  more  for  it,  and  insomuch 
as  the  government  will  have  lost  the  duty  on  the  im 
ported  article,  a  tax  equal  to  that  duty  must  be  paid 
to  the  government.7'  For  cogency  of  argument  upon 
low  tariff  lines  the  Faneuil  Hall  speech  has  rarely  been 
surpassed. 

During  the  years  covered  by  the  second  Monroe  ad 
ministration  there  continued  strong  demand  for  ad 
vanced  tariff  legislation,  and  the  demand  was  accen 
tuated  from  time  to  time  by  a  recurrence  of  depression 
in  various  fields  of  business.  Throughout  the  period 
Clay  and  his  school  kept  up  the  contention  that  only 
by  the  creation  of  an  enormous  home  market  for  raw 
materials — iron,  hemp,  wool,  and  other  articles — and 
for  foodstuffs  could  a  substantial  basis  for  national 
prosperity  be  laid,  and  that  the  development  of  such  a 
domestic  market  involved  of  necessity  the  deliberate 
stimulation  of  manufactures  through  the  means  of  high 
protective  duties.  Adequate  protection  against  foreigu 
competition,  it  was  urged,  was  the  sole  method  by 


IN  THE  SENATE:  THE  TARIFF         177 

which  European  nations  had  been  able  to  maintain 
themselves,  and  it  was  only  the  part  of  prudence  for  the 
United  States  to  conform  to  the  universal  experience 
of  modern  states.  Although  during  the  years  1820- 
1823  Monroe's  messages  advocated  repeatedly  a  moder 
ate  increase  of  prevailing  duties  and  several  attempts 
were  made  to  rouse  Congress  to  the  point  of  action,  it 
was  not  until  the  beginning  of  the  session  of  1823-1824 
— the  session  in  which  Webster  reappeared  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  House — that  the  protectionist  forces,  under 
the  aggressive  leadership  of  Clay,  commanded  a  ma 
jority  adequate  for  action.  Early  in  the  session  there 
was  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  an  increase  of  the 
duties  on  cottons,  woolens,  iron,  and  hemp,  and  con 
templating  a  general  overhauling  of  the  existing  tariff 
laws,  with  a  view  to  sweeping  extensions  of  the  pro 
tective  system.  In  committee  of  the  whole  the  meas 
ure  was  debated  from  time  to  time  at  great  length  and 
by  the  ablest  members  of  the  House.  The  principal 
champion  of  the  bill  was  Clay,  who  in  successive 
speeches  elaborated  with  rare  eloquence  the  funda 
mental  aspects  of  his  well-known  "  American  system/' 
A  masterful  appeal  by  Clay,  delivered  March  30  and 
31, 1824,  was  followed,  April  1st  and  2d,  by  the  lengthiest 
and  ablest  speech  which  Webster  had  yet  delivered 
upon  this  subject.1 

After  alluding  to  the  pending  bill  as  a  "collection 
of  different  enactments,  some  of  which  meet  my  appro 
bation  and  some  of  which  do  not,"  the  Massachusetts 
member  discussed  with  some  fulness  the  state  of  dis- 

*It  has  well  been  said  that  "these  two  speeches  together  are  as 
interesting  an  economic  study  as  can  be  found  in  our  parliamentary 
history."  Schurz,  "Henry  Clay,"1  Vol.  I,  p.  218.  For  Webster's 
speech  see  "  Works  of  Webster, "  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  94-149;  "Writings 
and  Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  94-149. 


178  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tress  which  Clay  had  represented  as  prevailing  through 
out  the  country.  From  the  accuracy  of  Clay's  picture 
he  dissented  strongly,  maintaining  that,  despite  oc 
casional  depression,  "a  country  enjoying  a  profounc 
peace,  perfect  civil  liberty,  with  the  reward  of  labor 
sure,  and  its  wages  higher  than  anywhere  else,  cannot 
be  represented  as  in  gloom,  melancholy,  and  distress, 
but  by  the  effort  of  extraordinary  powers  of  tragedy." 
The  true  causes  of  such  business  unsettlement  as  ad 
mittedly  existed  in  some  sections  Webster  bade  his 
hearers  seek  in  a  loose  and  ill -ordered  system  of  cur 
rency  and  public  finance.  The  issue  of  irredeemable 
paper  money  he  regarded  as  the  "most  prominent  and 
deplorable  cause  of  whatever  pressure  still  exists  in 
this  country."  To  the  adoption  of  a  more  rigidly  pro 
tectionist  policy  such  as  Clay  had  advocated  he  inter 
posed  a  number  of  objections,  each  of  which  was  sus 
tained  by  a  wealth  of  argument.  In  the  first  place, 
Clay's  denomination  of  his  scheme  as  an  American  sys 
tem  was  ridiculed,  on  the  ground  that,  historically, 
that  was  precisely  what  it  was  not.  If  names  were  to 
mean  anything,  he  said,  a  policy  which  even  its  advo 
cates  admitted  was  new  to  America  ought  hardly  to  be 
called  American  ;  nor  ought  that  policy  which  America 
had  hitherto  maintained,  and  which  foreign  nations 
had  never  pursued,  to  be  spoken  of  as  foreign.  In  the 
second  place,  it  was  unfair  to  impose  upon  a  branch  of 
industry,  i.  e.,  commerce,  which  had  contributed  so 
largely  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country  the  handicap 
which  must  inevitably  arise  from  protectionist  policy 
—the  more  so  when  it  was  considered  how  depressed 
already  were  navigation  and  foreign  trade  in  conse- 

144 Works  of    Webster,"    Vol.    Ill,     p.    97  :   "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  p.  97. 


IN  THE  SENATE :  THE  TABIFF         179 

quence  of  the  new  conditions  which  had  arisen  since 
the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe.  Thirdly,  it  was 
contended  that  the  state  of  manufactures  was  not  at  all 
such  as  to  demand  the  amount  of  governmental  support 
which  it  was  proposed  to  accord.  The  cotton,  woolen, 
and  iron  industries  had  passed  beyond  their  infancy, 
and  whatever  claim  to  special  favor  they  once  had  pos 
sessed  must  be  adj  udged  to  have  disappeared.  Finally, 
it  was  argued  that  the  pending  bill  was  a  hodge-podge 
of  proposals,  some  less  objectionable  than  others,  but, 
taken  together,  far  from  calculated  to  accomplish  even 
the  purposes  avowed  by  its  friends. 

" Gentlemen  tell  us,'7  declared  Webster,  "that  they 
are  in  favor  of  domestic  industry ;  so  am  I.  They 
would  give  it  protection;  so  would  I.  But  then  all 
domestic  industry  is  not  confined  to  manufactures. 
The  employments  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  navi 
gation  are  all  branches  of  the  same  domestic  industry  ; 
they  all  furnish  employment  for  American  capital  and 
American  labor.  And  when  the  question  is  whether 
new  duties  shall  be  laid  for  the  purpose  of  giving  fur 
ther  encouragement  to  particular  manufactures,  every 
reasonable  man  must  ask  himself,  both  whether  the  pro 
posed  new  encouragement  be  necessary,  and  whether  it 
can  be  given  without  injustice  to  other  branches  of  indus 
try."  In  two  or  three  passages  of  the  speech,  in  par 
ticular,  Webster  stated  incisively  both  his  own  view 
and  that  of  the  interests  which  he  as  yet  represented. 
"  With  me  it  is  a  fundamental  axiom,  it  is  interwoven 
with  all  my  opinions,  that  the  great^  inlerest&-of--the 
country  are  united  andinseparable  j  that  agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manulactures  will  prosper  tpgfti-her  or 
languish~together ;  and  that  allj^gislatien  is  danger 
ous  wKIcETiropo^^nBeuefit  one  of  these  without 


180  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

looking  to  thejBOjgequence^  on  the 

others.^ .  .  .  Protection,  when  carried  to  the 
jloTut  which  is  now  recommended,  that  is,  to  entire 
prohibition,  seems  to  me  destructive  of  all  commercial 
intercourse  between  nations.  We  are  urged  to  adopt 
the  system  on  general  principles.  .  .  .  I  do  not 
admit  the  general  principle  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  think 
freedom  of  trade  the  general  principle,  and  restriction 
the  exception. "  *  In  rejoinder  to  the  appeals  of  Clay 
and  other  speakers  to  the  policies  and  experience  of 
England,  Webster  contended  that  as  the  true  nature  o4 
international  trade  should  come  to  be  better  understood 
the  entire  system  of  monopolies  and  restraints  which 
had  grown  up  in  England  and  other  European  COUD 
tries  would  grow  in  disfavor,  and  that,  indeed,  there 
were  already  abundant  and  increasing  signs  of  revolt 
against  it.  With  current  economic  and  political 
opinion  in  Great  Britain  Webster  displayed  here,  ah 
upon  numerous  other  occasions,  a  degree  of  familiarity 
which  was  remarkable. 

After  a  debate  of  nearly  ten  weeks  the  bill  passed 
the  House  of  Representatives,  April  16th,  by  the 
narrow  margin  of  107  to  102  votes.  Webster  and 
twenty-two  of  his  New  England  colleagues  voted 
against  the  measure.  Fifteen  New  England  members 
—but  one  of  them  from  Massachusetts— voted  for  it. 
In  the  Senate  the  various  items  of  the  bill  were  dis 
cussed  at  length,  and  in  the  end  some  amendments 
were  introduced  by  which  certain  of  Webster's  objec 
tions  to  details  were  removed.  The  final  vote  was 
favorable,  although  only  by  a  balance  of  25  to  22,  and 
eventually  the  measure  became  law. 

1  "Works  of  Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  96  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  p.  96. 


IN  THE  SENATE :  THE  TAEIFP         181 

The  act  of  1824  was  a  compromise  evolved  from  a 
melange  of  conflicting  and  insistent  sectional  demands. 
At  the  time  of  its  adoption  it  pleased  nobody  in  all  of 
its  specifications,  and  in  practice  it  failed  completely  to 
meet  with  the  approval  of  many  important  interests. 
Chief  among  the  malcontents  were  the  woolen  manu 
facturers,  whose  numbers  and  interests  in.  the  New 
England  states  were  rapidly  increased  during  the 
years  immediately  following  1824.  They  were  espe 
cially  aggrieved  because  the  advantage  of  an  increased 
duty  on  woolen  cloth  had  been  offset  by  a  doubling 
of  the  'rate  on  raw  wool  in  the  interest  of  the  wool- 
growers  of  rural  New  England  and  the  Middle  West. 
Early  in  1827  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  by 
Rollin  0.  Mallary,  of  Vermont,  substituting  specific 
for  ad  valorem  duties  and  applying  to  woolens  the 
minimum  principle  already  applied  to  cottons  by  the 
act  of  1816.  The  measure  passed  the  House,  February 
10th,  but  in  the  Senate,  by  the  casting-vote  of  Vice- 
President  Calhoun,  it  was  laid  on  the  table.  During 
the  summer  of  1827  the  question  was  agitated  through 
out  the  country,  and  at  the  first  session  of  the  Twenti 
eth  Congress,  beginning  in  December  of  that  year,  the 
House  Committee  on  Manufactures  brought  in  a  bill 
extending  protection  to  wool,  hemp,  flax,  iron,  and 
other  raw  materials,  even  where  the  producers  had  not 
asked  for  it,  and  fixing  a  schedule  of  minimums  for 
woolens  so  devised  that  the  woolen  goods  chiefly  manu 
factured  in  New  England  should  be  left  without  benefit. 
The  bill  was  drawn  by  a  committee  in  which  Southern 
men  preponderated,  and  we  are  given  to  understand 
by  Calhoun  that  it  was  framed  on  the  lines  which  have 
been  indicated  to  the  end  that  New  England  should  be 
forced  to  join  with  the  South  in  the  defeat  of  the  meas- 


182  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ure.  It  was  part  of  the  scheme  that  the  opprobrium 
of  the  defeat  should  be  made  to  fall  upou  the  Adams 
administration,  and  so  to  contribute  to  the  defeat  of 
the  President  for  reelection  later  in  the  year.  The  bill 
referred  to  manufactures  of  no  sort  or  kind,  scornfully, 
and  not  altogether  inaptly,  declared  John  Randolph, 
"but  the  manufacture  of  a  president  of  the  United 
States !  "  To  the  great  chagrin  of  the  Southern  lead 
ers,  however,  a  sufficient  number  of  New  England ers 
gave  their  support  to  the  bill  to  pass  it,  in  the  House 
by  a  vote  of  105  to  94,  and  in  the  Senate  by  one  of  26 
to  21.  And  Webster  was  one  of  the  number. 

By  writers  upon  this  period  of  American  history  the 
course  pursued  by  Webster  in  relation  to  the  tariff  of 
1828  has  been  interpreted  in  various  ways.  Some 
have  viewed  it  as  equivalent  to  a  sheer  surrender  of 
principle.  Certainly,  it  is  true,  that  since  his  entrance 
of  public  life  Webster  had  never  before  failed,  not 
only  to  vote  against  protectionist  measures,  but  to  put 
forth  his  utmost  endeavor  to  circumvent  their  adop 
tion.  Certainly  also  he  was  far  from  willing  to  approve 
all  features  of  the  act  of  1828.  That  the  measure  con 
stituted  truly  enough  a  u  tariff  of  abominations'7  he 
would  have  been  among  the  first  to  admit.  None  the 
less,  hegave  the  bill  bqthjns  voice  and  his  vote,  and 
for  the  fundamental  reason  that  he  now  believed  that 
the  country  had  ^iHd^^d~jprofection  as  a  permanent 
p  ol  i  cypaiicl  tliatlnThis  matter^^lSur^ose_was_fojitl  i  e 
t i in e  ttnsh al\fable  ;  IIT  whlc!T7^ase~TF  seemed  to  him  alto- 
gether~desirat>ig  that  the  policy  should  be  followed  up 
in  a  logical  andsystematic  manner?  In  a  speech  of 
May  9th~~he  "explained  to  the  Senate  why,  despite  the 
many  glaring  faults  of  the  bill,  he  proposed  to  give  it 
his  support.  His  first  care  was  to  disabuse  the  minds 


IN  THE  SENATE :   THE  TARIFF          183 

of  some  of  his  hearers  of  the  idea  that  the  present 
measure  and  the  protectionist  policy  which  underlay 
it  were  to  be  attributed  to  the  preferences  of  New  Eng 
land  as  a  section.  "  New  England,  sir,"  he  declared, 
"  has  not  been  a  leader  in  this  policy.  On  the  con 
trary,  she  held  back  herself,  and  tried  to  hold  others 
back  from  it,  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  to* 
1824.  Up  to  1824  she  was  accused  of  sinister  and 
selfish  designs,  because  she  discountenanced  the  prog 
ress  of  this  policy.  .  .  .  Now  the  imputation  is 
precisely  of  an  opposite  character.  The  present  meas 
ure  is  pronounced  to  be  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of 
New  England  ;  to  be  brought  forward  by  her  agency, 
and  designed  to  gratify  the  cupidity  of  the  proprietors 
of  her  wealthy  establishments.  Both  charges,  sir,  are 
equally  without  the  slightest  foundation." 

Then  follows  a  crisp  exposition  of  the  earlier  New 
England  attitude,  which,  as  has  appeared,  hadjbeeji. 
precisely  the  attitude  of  Webster  himself.  ""*"  The 
opinion  of  New  England  up  to  1824  was  founded  in 
the  conviction  that,  on  the  whole,  it  was  wisest  and 
best,  both  for  herself  and  others,  that  manufactures 
should  make  haste  slowly.  She  felt  a  reluctance  to 
trust  great  interests  on  the  foundation  of  government 
patronage ;  for  who  could  tell  how  long  such  patron 
age  would  last,  or  with  what  steadiness,  skill,  or  per 
severance  it  would  continue  to  be  granted?  .  .  . 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  true  that,  from  the  very  first 
commencement  of  the  government,  those  who  have 
administered  its  concerns  have  held  a  tone  Of  encour 
agement  and  invitation  toward  those  who  should 
embark  in  manufactures.  .  .  .  When,*  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  late  war,  duties  were  doubled,  we 
were  told  that  we  should  find  a  mitigation  of  the 


184   '  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 


of  taxation  iu  the  new  aid  and  succor  which 
Y  would  be  thus  afforded  to  our  own  manufacturing 
Jabor,     Like  arguments  were  urged,  and  prevailed, 
but  not  by  the  aid  of  'New  England  votes,  when  the 
4  tariff-  was  afterward  arranged,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
/-hi-  1$16.     Finally,  after  a  .whole  winter's  deliberation, 
*ttie  -actjaf  1824  received  the  8ajigtion_jof_botli  houses 
A  o^Oongress,  and  settled  thg^policy  of-  the  country. 
y/\¥hat,  then,  was~New  England  to  do?    She  was  fitted 
/7/fc'r  manufacturing   operations,   by  the   amount   and 
character  of  her  population,  by  her  capital,  by  the 
vigor  and   energy  of  her  free  labor,   by  the  skill, 
economy,  enterprise,  and  perseverance  of  her  people. 
I  repeat,  What  was  she  under  these  circumstances  to 
do  ?    A  great  and  prosperous  rival  in  her  near  neigh 
borhood,  threatening  to  draw  from  her  a  part,  perhaps 
a  great  part,  of  her  foreign  commerce  ;  was  she  to  use, 
or  to  neglect,  those  other  means  of  seeking  her  own 
prosperity  which  belonged  to  her  character  and  her 
condition?    Was  she  to  hold  out  forever  against  the 
course  of  the  government,  and  see  herself  losing  on  one 
side,  and  yet  make  no  effort  to  sustain  herself  on  the 
(5ther?    No,  sir.     Nothing  was  left  to  New  England, 
after  the  act  of  1824,  but  to  conform  herself  to  the  will 
of  others.     Nothing  was  left  to  her,  but  to  consider 
that  the  government  had  fixed  and  determined  its 
oVvu  policy  ;  and  that  policy  was  protection." 

The  ground,  therefore,  upon  which  Webster  sought 
to  justify  hisjc^ursje_j^vQttDgI^Llhe.-.biIl  was  that^oj' 
the  sheer  logic  of  _circum^taiices^-of  circumstances 
^•^51^5-  a?^  Si6  ^section  of  the__coimtry  which  he 

1  "  Annals  of  Congress,"  20th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  p.  751  ;  "  Works  of 
Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  229-230  ;  "  Writings  and  Speeches,  ' 
Vol.  V,  pp.  228-230. 


THE  SENATE  :  THE  TARIFF         186 


represented,  had_^i^n_povvejd£SSLJtlLconJti^  Thfirjgjs 
no  evidence  that  he  now  or  at  any  later  time  abanx 
cloned  his  belief  in  free-  trade  as  an  abstract  principle. 
A  tariff,  none  the  less,  he  conceived  to  be  no  matter  of 
morals,  but  rather  a  simple  concern  of  business  and 
of  expediency,  and  in  changing  rather  abruptly  his 
public  attitude  upon  the  subject  in  1828  he  seemed 
neither  to  himself  nor  to  most  other  men  of  fair  temper 
to  be  inviting  just  opprobrium.  Upon  the  constitu 
tional  aspects  of  protectionism  he  was  silent  in  1828 
and,  in  so  far  as  possible,  throughout  his  prolonged 
career  as  an  advocate  of  high  tariffs  thereafter.  There 
can  be  no  question  that  upon  this  point  he  was  obliged 
to  modify,  or  to  ignore,  the  views  which  he  so  posi 
tively  avowed  in  1816  and  still  maintained  in  1820. 
It  is  not  clear  that  he  ever  fully  accepted  Clay's  doc 
trine  that  the  power  to  lay  protective  duties  is  to  be 
derived  from  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  authorizing 
Congress  to  regulate  foreign  commerce.  But  he  seems 
at  least  to  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that,  the 
power  having  been  exercised  repeatedly  at  various 
stages  of  the  country's  history,  and  being  bound  up 
with  the  inevitable  order  of  things,  the  question  was 
to  be  consigned  to  the  category  of  res  adjudicata.1 
For  his  colleague,  Mr.  Silsbee,  and  the  representa 
tive  of  the  Boston  district,  Mr.  Gorham,  both  of  whom 
voted  against  the  measure,  he  had  no  word  of  re 
proach.  To  him  it  had  seemed  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  "take  the  evil  "  of  the  bill  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
the  good  ;  to  them  the  evil  had  appeared  too  com 
pletely  to  outweigh  the  good  to  render  such  a  course 
desirable.  "  In  the  place  I  occupied,"  he  subsequently 
explained  to  the  people  of  his  state,  "  I  was  one  of  the 
1  Lodge,  "Webster,"  p.  170. 


186  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

representatives  of  the  whole  Commonwealth.  I  was 
not  at  liberty  to  look  exclusively  at  the  interests  of 
the  district  in  which  I  live,  and  which  I  have  here 
tofore  had  the  high  honor  of  representing.  I  was  to 
extend  my  view  from  Barnstable  to  Berkshire  ;  to  com 
prehend  in  it  a  proper  regard  for  all  interests,  and  a 
proper  respect  for  all  opinions.  Looking  to  the  aggre 
gate  of  all  the  interests  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
regarding  the  general  current  of  opinion,  so  far  as  that 
was  properly  to  be  respected,  I  saw,  at  least  I  thought 
I  saw,  my  duty  to  lie  in  the  path  which  I  pursued. 
The  measure  is  adopted.  Its  consequences,  for  good  or 
evil,  must  be  left  to  the  results  of  experience.  In  the 
meantime  I  refer  the  propriety  of  the  vote  which  I 
gave,  with  entire  submission,  and  with  the  utmost 
cheerfulness  also,  to  the  judgment  of  the  good  people 
of  the  Commonwealth."  l 

1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  166.  This  passage  occurs  in 
the  Faiieuil  Hall  speech  of  June  5,  1828,  to  be  mentioned  presently. 
See  p.  187. 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE 

UPON  his  return  to  Boston  at  the  close  of  the  session 
of  1827-1828  Webster  was  accorded  the  honor,  June 
5th,  of  a  public  dinner  in  Faueuil  Hall.  Despite  the 
fact  that  his  vote  upon  the  recent  tariff  act  was  disap 
proved  by  many  of  his  fellow-citizens,  it  was  recog 
nized  by  every  one  that  his  career  during  his  first  year 
in  the  Senate  had  been  marked  by  the  continued  dis 
play  of  ability,  independence,  and  integrity.  To  the 
flattering  toast  "Our  distinguished  guest, — worthy  the 
noblest  homage  which  freemen  can  give  or  a  freeman 
receive,  the  homage  of  their  hearts, "  he  responded  in 
an  extended  speech,  in  the  course  of  which,  after  ex 
pressing  deep  appreciation  of  the  compliment  tendered 
him,  he  explained  (as  has  been  mentioned)  the  consid 
erations  by  which  he  had  been  influenced  to  vote  for 
the  late  tariff  measure,  touched  upon  his  course  in  ref 
erence  to  a  variety  of  other  legislative  proceedings,  de 
livered  a  forceful  argument  in  behalf  of  a  liberal  policy 
respecting  internal  improvements,  and  concluded  with 
an  eloquent  defense  of  New  England  against  charges  of 
disloyalty  which  were  all  the  while  being  circulated  by 
the  Jackson  forces  in  an  effort  to  cast  opprobrium  upon 
the  candidacy  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

One  passage  in  the  discourse  deserves  quotation,  be 
cause  in  it  Webster  stated  succinctly  to  his  friends  the 
principle  which  underlay  his  attitude  toward  every  sort 


188  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

of  public  issue.  Apropos  internal  improvements  he 
declared:  "It  is  my  opinion,  Mr.  President,  that  the 
present  government  of  the  United  States  cannot  be 
maintained  but  by  administering  it  on  principles  as 
wide  and  broad  as  the  country  over  which  it  extends. 
I  mean,  of  course,  no  extension  of  the  powers  which  it 
confers ;  but  I  speak  of  the  spirit  with  which  those 
powers  should  be  exercised.  If  there  be  any  doubts 
whether  so  many  republics,  covering  so  vast  a  territory, 
can  be  long  held  together  under  this  Constitution,  there- 
is  no  doubt  in  my  judgment  of  the  impossibility  of  so 
holding  them  together  by  any  narrow,  local,  or  selfish 
system  of  legislation.  To  render  the  Constitution  per 
petual  (which  God  grant  it  may  be),  it  is  necessary 
that  its  benefits  should  be  practically  felt  by  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  all  interests  in  the  country.  The 
East  and  the  West,  the  North  and  the  South,  must  all 
see  their  own  welfare  protected  and  advanced  by  it- 
While  the  eastern  frontier  is  defended  by  fortifications, 
its  harbors  improved,  and  commerce  protected  by  a 
naval  force,  it  is  right  and  just  that  the  region  beyond 
the  Alleghauies  should  receive  fair  consideration  and 
equal  attention,  in  any  object  of  public  improvement, 
interesting  to  itself,  and  within  the  proper  power  of 
the  government.  These,  sir,  are  the  general  views  by 
which  I  have  been  governed  on  questions  of  this  kind.'' ' 
To  the  people  of  his  section,  who  were  prone  to  regard 
Ilie  building  of  trans- Alleghany  roads  and  canals  at 
the  national  expense  as  a  matter  of,  at  the  least,  no 
practical  concern  to  themselves,  Webster  appealed  to 
assume  in  this  matter,  as  indeed  in  all  others,  a  point 
of  view  more  broadly  nationalistic.  The  appeal  was 

111  Works     of    Webster,"    Vol.    I,    p.    170;     "Writings    and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  p.  20. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE     189 

rational  and  wholesome.  It  was  the  direct  outcome  of 
a  decade  and  a  half  of  broadening  influence  exerted 
upon  Webster  himself  by  the  circumstances  and  associa 
tions  of  his  service  in  Congress  and  at  the  bar  of  the 
federal  courts.  In  a  letter  of  June  13th,  Clay  took  oc 
casion  to  extol  in  the  strongest  terms  the  entire  speech, 
and  especially  the  sentiments  u  truly  national  and  pa 
triotic,"  which  were  contained  in  it  in  reference  to 
"the  great  interest  of  internal  improvements. " 
"Good,"  he  declared,  "  will  come  of  your  work." 

It  was  with  much  satisfaction  that,  upon  his  return 
to  Boston,  Webster  gathered  again  his  children  under 
his  own  roof,  even  though  for  a  period  of  but  a  few 
months.  Now  and  again  he  was  seized  with  fits  of  de 
pression  from  which  only  the  presence  and  needs  of 
those  who  were  dear  to  him  availed  to  arouse  him.  In 
the  midst  of  somewhat  exacting  professional  engage 
ments  he  was  deluged  with  invitations  to  public  meet 
ings  and  requests  for  public  addresses  from  all  parts  of 
the  nation,  especially  from  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire.  Only  a  few  of  these  could  be  accepted. 
On  the  12th  of  November,  at  the  opening  of  a  course 
of  lectures  to  be  given  throughout  the  winter  by  profes 
sional  and  business  men  of  note  before  the  Boston  Me 
chanics7  Institute,  he  delivered  a  discourse  upon  the 
relations  of  science  and  the  practical  arts,  in  which, 
while  speaking  of  course  as  a  layman,  he  gave  evidence 
of  no  mean  acquaintance  with  the  progress  of  science 
and  invention  throughout  the  centuries.1  In  the  same 
month  he  presided  at  a  meeting  held  by  a  group  of 
Boston  gentlemen,  at  which  there  was  brought  into  ex 
istence  an  organization  under  the  name  of  the  Boston 

lu  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I.  pp.  175-190:  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  27-40. 


190  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge.  Of 
this  society  he,  in  the  following  year,  became  president. 
As  has  been  pointed  out,  with  the  campaign  of  1828 
Webster  had  not  much  to  do.  He  maintained  through  - 
out  its  course  the  attitude  of  a  supporter  of  the  candi 
dacy  of  Adams,  but  he  did  not  believe,  as  did  Clay, 
that  Adams  would  win  ;  and  on  both  public  and  per 
sonal  grounds  he  was  too  much  out  of  sympathy  with 
Adams  to  be  able  to  exhibit  zeal  in  the  President's  be 
half.  Of  Jackson  he  knew  little,  and  the  little  that  he 
knew  was  unfavorable.  The  aspect  of  the  campaign 
which  interested  him  most  was  tbe  reappearance  of  po 
litical  parties,  a  development  by  which,  however,  he 
was  in  no  small  degree  distressed.  It  was  only  by  the 
logic  of  circumstances  that  he  was  gradually  forced  to 
identify  himself  with  the  National  Republican  organi 
zation,  and  eventually  to  assume  a  certain  status  of 
leadership  within  it.  A  Jacksoniau  he  could  not  be, 
and  in  those  days  one  could  not  well  be  other  than  a 
Jacksouiau  or  an  anti-Jacksonian — which  is  to  say,  a 
Democrat  or  a  National  Republican.  To  Webster  at 
this  time  it  seemed  that  the  weakest  portion  of  the  Con 
stitution  was  that  which  related  to  the  executive  and 
that  a  quadrennial  scramble  for  the  presidential  office, 
such  as  the  country  had  witnessed  in  1824,  and  such  as 
1  bat  through  which  it  was  at  present  passing,  might 
easily  prove  subversive  of  the  government  itself. 
"  The  love  of  office,"  he  declared  in  the  Faneuil  Hall 
speech,  "  will  ere  long  triumph  over  the  love  of  coun 
try,  and  party  and  faction  usui-p  the  place  of  wisdom 
and  patriotism.  If  the  contest  for  the  executive  power 
is  thus  to  be  renewed  every  four  years ;  if  it  is  to  be 
conducted  as  the  present  has  been  conducted  ;  and  if 
every  election  is  to  be  immediately  followed,  as  the  last 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE     191 

was  followed,  by  a  prompt  union  of  all  whose  friends 
are  not  chosen  against  him  who  is,  there  is,  in  my 
judgment,  danger,  much  danger,  that  this  great  experi 
ment  of  confederated  government  may  fail,  and  that 
even  those  of  us  who  are  not  among  the  youngest  may 
behold  its  catastrophe. " l 

An  illustration  of  the  partisan  bitterness  of  the  time 
is  afforded  by  a  little-known  episode  in  which  Webster 
himself,  near  the  close  of  the  campaign,  was  involved. 
A  number  of  New  England  Federalists  who  had  never 
forgiven  Adams  for  his  friendliness  toward  the  em 
bargo  measures  of  1807-1809  were  supporting  Jackson 
and  were  maintaining  in  Boston  a  semi -weekly  paper, 
the  Jackson  Republican.2  On  October  29,  1828,  there 
appeared  in  this  paper  an  article  purporting  to  repro 
duce  a  charge  made  by  Adams  to  Jefferson  in  1807- 
1808,  and  reiterated  as  late  as  1828,  to  the  effect  that 
during  the  second  Jefferson  administration  Harrison 
Gray  Otis,  Samuel  Dexter,  and  other  New  England 
Federalists  were  engaged  in  a  plot  to  dissolve  the 
Union  and  to  reannex  New  England  to  the  dependen 
cies  of  Great  Britain.  In  the  list  of  conspirators  was 
included  the  name  of  Webster,  and  the  writer  of  the 
article  demanded  to  know,  among  other  things,  why 
"for  three  years  he  [Adams]  has  held  to  his  bosom,  as 
a  political  counselor,  Daniel  Webster,  a  man  whom 
he  called,  in  his  midnight  denunciation,  a  traitor  in 
1808."  Eesponsibility  for  the  accusation  was  laid  at 
the  door  principally  of  Theodore  Lyman,  Jr.,  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  Republican,  and  a  gentleman 

J  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 

•  After  the  election  of  Jackson  the  name  was  changed  to  the 
Evening  Bulletin  and  United  States  Republican.  In  1830  the  paper 
was  transferred  to  the  New  England  Palladium,  which  during  the 
same  year  was  merged  with  the  Columbian  Centinel. 


192  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

of  ability  and  high  social  standing.  Webster  felt  the 
charge  keenty  and,  after  ascertaining  definitely  that 
Lyman  was  the  author  of  the  article  in  question,  he 
was  impelled  to  do  what  no  amount  of  provocation 
ever  again  drove  him  to  do,  namely,  to  bring  suit  in 
vindication  of  his  name  and  honor.  On  indictment 
for  criminal  libel  Lyinan  was  brought  to  trial  in  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in  December, 
1828. 

By  reason  of  the  eminence  of  the  parties  directly  or 
indirectly  involved  in  it,  the  case  commanded  wide 
spread  interest.  The  burden  of  the  contention  of 
Webster  and  his  counsel,  the  Solicitor-General  Daniel 
Davis,  was  that,  whereas  Adams's  actual  charge  was 
only  that  in  1808  leading  Federalists  (not  named)  of 
Massachusetts  had  been  guilty  of  treasonable  designs, 
Lyinan  had  referred  to  Webster  specifically  as  a  per 
son  to  whom  the  libel  applied,  which  was  tantamount 
to  a,  libel  of  Webster  by  Lyinan  himself.  Ly man's 
defense  was  (1)  that  the  article  was  not  libel ous,  be 
cause,  while  Adams  had  not  named  individuals,  he 
had  charged  all  the  leading  Federalists  with  treason 
able  purposes,  and  while  he  spoke  especially  of  the 
Federalists  of  Massachusetts,  he  really  referred  to  all 
the  leading  Federalists  of  New  England,  of  whom 
Webster  was  one,  and  (2)  that  the  article — written 
hastily  and  in  admitted  disregard  of  the  fact  that  in 
1808  Webster  was  not  resident  in  Massachusetts— was 
directed,  not  against  Webster,  but  against  Adams,  so 
that  if  Webster  had  been  charged  with  implication  in 
a  treasonable  plot  it  was  by  inadvertence.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  Webster  in  1807-1808  was  but  an  obscure 
Xew  Hampshire  lawyer,  who  had  never  as  yet  sus 
tained  any  sort  of  relations  with  the  men  who  were 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    193 

named  as  his  fellow- conspirators,  the  charge  was  so 
easily  refuted  as  to  be  absurd ;  and  the  defense  of 
Lyman  was  shallow  and  halting.  At  the  same  time 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  there  was  offered  to  Lymau 
no  opportunity  to  retract,  or  to  explain,  outside  of 
court.  The  indictment  was  based  upon  the  law  of 
scanddhim  magncAuni,  or  slander  of  great  men,  not  un 
known  to  English  usage  but  never  adopted  into  the 
common  law  of  the  United  States.  And,  furthermore, 
a  criminal  suit  was  brought  rather  than  a  civil  action 
for  damages,  rendering  it  possible,  as  the  law  then 
was,  for  Webster,  but  not  for  Lymau,  to  testify.  In 
other  words,  the  conditions  of  the  trial  were  shaped 
deliberately  to  place  the  defendant  at  an  unusual  dis 
advantage  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  escape  the  convic 
tion  that  the  bitterness  felt  by  the  plaintiff  and  his 
political  friends  toward  the  "  renegade  "  Lyman  played 
some  part  in  the  whole  proceeding. 

The  jury  in  the  end  found  itself  unable  to  agree 
upon  the  facts  involved.  Ten  members  favored  con 
viction,  but  two  dissented.  The  case  was  continued 
until  the  March  term,  1829,  and  thence  until  the 
November  term  following.  But  when  the  November 
term  arrived  the  Solicitor-General,  with  Webster's 
consent,  entered  a  nolle  prosequi,  and  the  case  was 
dropped.  Lyman  clearly  considered  the  action  more 
political  than  personal.  Previously  he  and  Webster 
had  been  on  intimate  terms  socially,  and  within  a  year 
or  two  they  were  so  again.  The  reconciliation  was 
promoted  by  the  fact  that,  in  December,  1829,  Web- 
ster  married  as  his  second  wife  a  jbrmer  schoolmate 
of  Mrs.  tyman]  In  1831  Lyman  was  elected  mayor  of 
Boston  as  the  " Jackson  candidate."  The  episode, 
furthermore,  does  not  appear  to  have  affected  the 


194  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

relations  existing  between  Webster  and  President 
Adams.  March  29,  1829,  after  Adams  had  retired 
from  office,  he  recorded  in  his  diary  that  Webster 
had  called  to  take  his  leave  and  that  the  senator- 
had  declared  that  he  entertained  "  no  feeling  of 
dissatisfaction." 

When  Webster  returned  to  Washington  at  the  open 
ing  of  the  session  of  1828-1829  he  found  official  circles 
at  the  capital  absorbed^ principally ~in  speculation  con 
cerning  the  prospe^ye"policie^an^riS6asures~T)f  Jack- 
son~  From  Clay  came  the  counseTCMt;  pending  the 
establishment  of  the  new  administration,  the  National 
Eepublican  policy  should  be  to  avoid  alike  professions 
of  support  and  declarations  of  hostility  ;  and  with  the 
course  thus  marked  out  Webster  was  in  entire  sym 
pathy.  In  a  memorandum  of  February,  1829,  com 
municated  probably  to  Ezekiel,  the  situation  at  the 
capital  is  characterized  in  scattered  jottings  as  follows  : 
1  i  General  Jackson  will  be  here  about  15th  February. 
Nobody  knows  what  he  will  do  when  he  does  come. 
Many  letters  are  sent  to  him  ;  he  answers  none  of  them. 
His  friends  here  pretend  to  be  very  knowing  ;  but,  be 
assured,  not  one  of  them  has  any  confidential  communi 
cation  from  him.  Great  efforts  are  making  to  put  him 
up  to  a  general  sweep,  as  to  all  offices  ;  springing  from 
great  doubts  whether  he  is  disposed  to  go  it.  Nobody 
is  authorized  to  say  whether  he  intends  to  retire,  after 
one  term  of  service.  Who  will  form  his  cabinet  is  as 
well  known  at  Boston  as  at  Washington.  .  .  .  My 
opinion  is,  that  when  he  comes  he  will  bring  a  breeze 
with  him.  Which  way  it  will  blow  I  cannot  tell. 
.  .  .  My  fear  is  stronger  than  my  hope. "  l  There 
is  added  this  exhortation  relative  to  Clay  :  "  Keep  New 
1  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.142-143. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE     195 

England  firm  and  steady,  and  she  can  make  him  Presi 
dent  if  she  chooses. "  On  February  9th  Jackson  ar 
rived  in  Washington.  Ten  days  later  Webster  wrote 
to  his  sister-in-law  that  u  the  city  is  full  of  speculation 
and  speculators  ;  a  great  multitude,  too  many  to  be  fed 
without  a  miracle,  are  already  in  the  city,  hungry  for 
office."  March  4th  he  writes  :  "To-day  we  have  had 
the  inauguration.  A  monstrous  crowd  of  people  is  in 
the  city.  I  never  saw  anything  like  it  before.  Per 
sons  have  come  five  hundred  miles  to  see  General  Jack 
son,  and  they  really  seem  to  think  that  the  country  is 
rescued  from  some  dreadful  danger.  The  inaugura 
tion  speech  you  will  see.  I  cannot  make  much  of  it, 
except  that  it  is  anti-tariff,  at  least  in  some  degree. 
What  it  says  about  reform  in  office  may  be  either  a 
prelude  to  a  general  change  in  office,  or  a  mere  sop  to 
soothe  the  hunger,  without  satisfying  it,  of  the  thou 
sand  expectants  for  office  who  throng  the  city,  and 
clamor  all  over  the  country.  I  expect  some  changes, 
but  not  a  great  many  at  present.771 

The  Senate  was  convened  in  special  session  March 
4th.  This  circumstance,  together  with  a  number  of 
professional  engagements,  detained  Webster  in  Wash 
ington  upward  of  six  weeks,  and  during  the  period  he 
chafed  like  a  boy  in  school.  "  My  health  is  good,77  he 
writes  to  his  sister-in-law,  "  but  I  find,  to  confess  the 
truth,  that  I  am  growing  indolent.  I  would  be  glad 
to  have  more  decisive  volitions.  I  do  nothing  in  Con 
gress  or  the  court  but  what  is  clearly  necessary  ;  and 
in  such  cases,  even,  my  efforts  'come  haltingly  off.7 
In  short,  I  believe  the  truth  is,  that  I  am  growing  old, 
and  age,  you  know,  or  rather  you  have  heard,  requires 

1  Webster  to  Mrs.  Ezekiel  Webster,  March  4,  1829.  Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  473. 


196  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

repose."  l  To  Ezekiel  he  writes  a  fortnight  later  in  a 
strain  to  suggest  that  he  was  seriously  considering  a 
retirement  from  public  life.  Over  his  own  protest 
Ezekiel,  some  weeks  previously,  had  been  nominated  to 
Congress,  and  although  Daniel  was  extremely  desirous 
of  his  brother's  election,  neither  he  nor  Ezekiel  was  at 
all  confident.  "If  no  change  takes  place,"  he  writes, 
"in  my  own  condition,  of  which  I  have  not  the  slight 
est  expectation,  and  if  you  are  not  elected,  I  shall  not 
return  [to  Washington].  This,  inter  nos,  but  my  mind 
is  settled.  Under  present  circumstances,  public  and 
domestic,  it  is  disagreeable  being  here,  and  to  me  there 
is  no  novelty  to  make  compensation.  It  will  be  better 
for  me  and  my  children  that  I  should  be  with  them. 
If  I  do  not  come  in  a  public,  I  shall  not  in  a  profes 
sional,  character.  I  can  leave  the  court  now  as  well  as 
ever,  and  can  earn  my  bread  as  well  at  home  as  here. 
Your  company  and  that  of  your  wife  would  make  a 
great  difference. "  2  In  this  same  letter,  written  imme 
diately  prior  to  the  election,  Webster  declared  that  of 
EzekieFs  being  returned  he  had  not  "much  expecta 
tion"  ;  and  the  ensuing  results  proved  his  apprehen 
sions  to  have  been  well  founded. 

During  the  second  week  of  April  Webster  arrived  at 
his  home  in  Boston,  only  immediately  to  be  over 
whelmed  by  the  news  of  his  brother's  sudden  and 
wholly  unexpected  death.  The  decease,  which  took 
place  ~m  tFe  court-house^at  Concord,  is  thus  described 
by  a  son-in-law.  "Mr.  Webster  was  speaking,  stand 
ing  erect,  on  a  plain  floor,  the  house  full,  and  the  court 

1  \Vebster  to  Mrs.  Ezekiel  Webster,  March  2,  1829.  Webster, 
4 '  Private  Correspondence, ' '  Vol.  I,  p.  472. 

1  Daniel  to  Ezekiel  Webster,  March  15,  1829.  Ibid.,  Vol.  1, 
p.  474. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE     197 

and  jurors  and  auditors  intently  listening  to  his  words, 
with  all  their  eyes  fastened  upon  him.  Speaking  with 
full  force,  and  perfect  utterance,  he  arrived  at  the  end 
of  one  branch  of  his  argument.  He  closed  that  branch, 
uttered  the  last  sentence,  and  the  last  word  of  that  sen 
tence,  with  perfect  tone  and  emphasis,  and  then,  in  an 
instant,  erect,  and  with  arms  depending  by  his  side,  he 
fell  backward,  without  bending  a  joint,  and,  so  far  as 
appeared,  was  dead  before  his  head  reached  the  floor. "  1 
Mrs.  Webster  and  the  elder  of  the  two  daughters  were 
in  Boston  at  the  time,  and  it  was  there,  at  three  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  that  information  of  the 
death,  which  had  occurred  at  four  o'clock  the  previous 
afternoon,  reached  them.  The  wife  and  daughter,  to 
gether  with  the  brother  and  his  two  sons,  arrived  at 
Boscawen  at  nine  o'clock  the  same  evening,  and  the 
funeral  was  held  on  the  following  day.  The  grief  of 
the  surviving  brother  was  extreme.  "He  [Ezekiel] 
has  been  my  reliance  through  life,  and  I  have  derived 
much  of  its  happiness  from  his  fraternal  affection." 
The  tribute  was  simple,  but  heartfelt.  In  response  to 
a  note  of  condolence  from  Jeremiah  Mason  he  writes  : 
' '  You  do  not  and  cannot  overrate  the  strength  of  the 
shock  which  my  brother's  death  has  caused  me.  I 
have  felt  but  one  such  in  life  ;  and  this  follows  that  so 
soon  that  it  requires  more  fortitude  than  I  possess  to 
bear  it  with  firmness,  such  perhaps  as  I  ought.  .  .  . 
With  a  multitude  of  acquaintance,  I  have  few  friends ; 
my  nearest  intimacies  are  broken  and  a  sad  void  is 
made  in  the  objects  of  affection. ' ' 2  Barely  are  brothers 

1  Edwin  D.  Sauborn,  quoted  in  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  341. 

'Webster  to  Mason,  April  19,  1829.  Webster,  "Private  Corre 
spondence,''  Vol.  I,  p.  477. 


198  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

bound  by  a  tie  of  such  virility  as  that  which  underlay 
the  relations  of  the  two  Websters.  Established  in  the 
days  of  poverty-stricken  boyhood,  and  strengthened 
through  the  arduous  period  of  youth  and  early  man 
hood,  it  had  continued  to  the  present  the  most  tangible 
controlling  force  in  the  careers  of  the  two  men.  In  in 
tellect,  in  oratorical  power,  and  in  breadth  of  informa 
tion  Daniel  was  much  the  superior  ;  in  integrity  and 
loftiness  of  spirit  he  was  his  brother's  equal,  but  no 
more ;  in  industry,  thrift,  and  patience  he  was  in 
disputably  the  inferior.  At  every  stage  of  his  public 
career  he  had  been  accustomed  to  take  Ezekiel  into 
council,  and  not  infrequently  to  defer  to  his  judgment. 
The  loss  which  he  now  suffered  was  beyond  repair. 

It  fell  to  Webster  during  the  ensuing  summer  to 
give  much  of  his  time  to  the  adjustment  of  his  brother's 
family  and  business  affairs.  Ezekiel,  at  his  death, 
was  forty-nine  years  of  age.  By  dint  of  persistent 
effort  he  had  acquired  a  competency  for  those  depend 
ent  upon  him,  although  not  such  but  that  careful 
management  was  required  to  preserve  and  make  the 
most  of  it.  By  arrangement  with  the  guardian  of  his 
brother's  children,  the  farm  at  Franklin,  containing 
the  graves  of  his  parents  and  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  passed  now  into  Daniel's  possession,  and  to  it 
he  thereafter  made  repeated  reverential  pilgrimages. 
In  the  course  of  time  he  regained  some  measure  of 
good  spirits,  and  the  idea  of  abandoning  public  life 
was  given  up.  During  the  autumn  of  1829  he  had 
occasion  to  spend  some  weeks  in  New  York  in  the 
pursuit  of  professional  duties,  and  while  there  he 
became  engaged  to  marry  Miss  Caroline  Le  Boy,  sec 
ond  daughter  of  Jacob  Le  Eoy,  a  wealthy  merchant 
and  a  member  of  one  of  New  York's  most  honored 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYXE  DEBATE    199 

families.  The  wedding  took  place  in  December,  and 
before  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  Webster  was 
again  in  a  home  circle  of  his  own  in  Washington. 
The  elder  son,  Daniel  Fletcher,  was  now  a  freshman 
in  Harvard  College,  and  the  younger,  Edward,  was  in 
a  preparatory  school.  The  daughter,  Julia,  whose 
health  was  not  good,  was  taken  to  Washington. 

Meanwhile  the  affairs  of  the  country  were  appmach- 
ing  a^crisis^and  in  order  to  make  clear  the  significance 
of  the  part  which  Webster  was  destined  shortly  to 
play  in  the  drift  of  these  affairs  some  attention  must 
be  given  to  the  character  of  the  situation  which,  by 
the  close  of  the  first  year  of  Jackson's  presidency,  had 
developed.  To  the  student  of  the  third  and  fourth 
decades  of  our  national  history  two  great  facts  are 
patent.  One  of  them  is  that  at  the  close  of  the  War  of 
1812,  the  United  States  possessed  a  larger  measure 
of  solidarity  and  its  people  a  closer  community  of  in 
terest  than  at  any  time  sincelbEe  adoption  ot  me  Con 
stitution: — TE^oEEer  is  that  the  period  1815-1830,  and 
especially  the  second  half  of  it,  is  notable  above  all 
other  things_for  the  rapid  growth  of  sectionalism 
which  took  place  within,  it.  In  1815  the  nation  was 
flushed  \fitn~"  the  enthusiasm  of  victory.  Its  enemies 
abroad  had  been  driven  to  cover,  the  malcontents  at 
home  discredited  and  silenced.  Into  the  pursuits  of 
peace  it  threw  itself  with  unreserved  energy.  In  fine 
disregard  of  carping  critics,  and  with  the  assent  of 
well-nigh  all  elements  of  the  people,  it  laid  tariffs  to 
protect  its  newly  risen  manufactures,  it  appropriated 
national  moneys  for  the  improvement  of  means  of 
trade  and  travel,  it  established  a  bank  for  the  regula 
tion  of  currency  and  the  facilitation  of  public  finance, 
it  acquired  territory  for  the  adjustment  of  border 


200  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

difficulties  and  the  extension  of  the  country  to  its 
natural  frontiers.  By  1830,  none  the  less,  this  same 
nationalized  republic  had  come  to  be,  in  no  small 
degree,  a  mere  aggregate  of  sections  or  regions,  each 
with  its  own  interests,  its  own  conditions,  its  own 
demands,  its  own  prospects.  New ^England  was  a jpre- 
dominautly  commercial,  changing  now  into  a  predomi 
nantly  manujacti;riug,  section.  Pennsylvania  was  a 
manufacturing  section,  but  of  an  entirely  different 
sort.  The  West,  to  the  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  was 
an  agricultural  section,  producing  principally  food 
stuffs  ^UKTseekiug  ever  a  wider  market  for  them. 
Virginia  and  adjacent  portions  of  the  older .South  com 
prised  an  agricultural^  section  in  decline,  with  soil 
outworn,  and  inclining  more  and  more  toward  slave- 
breeding  as  a  source  of  wealth.  The  furjther_§outh 
—both  the  seaboard  and  the  newer  regions  westward 
to  the  Texan  frontier — was  the  great  cotton-growing, 
slaveholdiug  section,  peculiar  unto  itself,  profoundly 
conscious  of  its  peculiarity  5  and,  like  every  other  one 
of  the  sections  that  have  been  enumerated,  jealous  of 
its  interests  and  vigilant  to  defend  them. 

To  attempt  an  explanation  of  the  causes  contributing 
to  this  remarkable  transformation — the  fundamental 
fact,  in  some  regards,  of  the  history  of  the  ' l  middle 
period ' '  — would  lead  too  far  afiel  d.  These  causes  were, 
in  part,  political.  The  acerbities  arising  from  the 
presidential  caliipaigns  of  1824  and  1828,  for  example, 
when,  in  default  of  clear-cut  party  lines,  candidates 
represented  in  some  measure  rival  sections  of  the 
country, ^undoubtedly  had "TBeir  decentralizing  effect. 
Much  more  largely,  however,  these  causes  were  eco- 
nojmc_jfcndj3O£ial.  They  sprang,  in  larger  part,  from 
diversity  of  occupation,,  of  industrial  condition,  and  of 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    201 

local  interest.  It  would  be  possible  to  illustrate  the 
risVan3""progress  of  sectionalism  with  perfect  clearness 
by  reference  to  the  history  of  internal  improvements,  of 
the  national  bank,  or  of  any  one  of  many  other  public 
issues  of  the  period.  Most  striking,  however,  is  the 
evidence  afforded  by  the  history  of  the  tariff — a  topic 
upon  which  there  has  been  occasion  to  touch  at  a 
number  of  earlier  points  in  this  volume.  The  tariff' 
of  1816  was  enacted  in  response  to  a  wide-spread  and 
insistent  demand  that  the  infant  industries  which  had 
sprung  up  during  the  wa#~should  be  safeguarded 
against  the  ruin  which  impended  at  the  hand  of  for 
eign,  mainly  British,  competition.  In  no  quarter  was 
the  measure  seriously  or  formidably  opposed.  By  its 
operation  the  entire  country  was  expected  to  be  bene 
fited.  Not  many  years^or^eyen  months,  of  experience, 
however,  were  required  to  inaugurate  a  gradual  but 
thoroughgoing  disruption  of  this  unanimity  of  tariff 
sentiment.  The  woolen  manufacturers  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut  speedily  developed  a  point  of  view 
with  which  the  wool -growers  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  could  hardly  be  expected  to  sympathize ;  the 
Portsmouth  ship-builder  wanted  free  hemp,  while  the 
Kentucky  hemp  producer  clamored  for  a  share  in 
the  benefits  supposed  to  accrue  from  a  protective  duty 
upon  his  commodity  ;  the  iron  manufacturer  of  Pitts 
burgh  had  his  individual  interests ;  and  so  ad  infinitum. 
Under  the  operation  of  these  conditions  the  framing 
of  tariff  bills  became  inevitably  the  occasion  of  log 
rolling,  of  intrigue,  and  of  the  display  of  the  most 
discordant  sectional  demands.  It  was  so  in  1820,  in 
1824,  in  1827,  and  in  1828.  Each  section  as  a  matter 
of  course  played  jfor  the  maximum  of  advantage  and 
the  minimum  of  concession. 


202  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

One  of  the  clearest  effects  of  the  prolonged  con 
troversy  which  arose  upon  the  subject  of  the  tariff  was 
the  setting  of  a  great  section,  the  South,  in  an  attitude 
of  unalterable  opposition  to  protective  duties  of  what 
soever  nature  or  purport.  In  1816  the  South  did  not 
apprehend  that  she  might  not  expect  to  have  some 
direct  share  in  the  forthcoming  expansion  of  manufac 
turing  industry.  It  was  not  even  clear  that,  should 
manufactures  fail  to  be  developed,  the  increased  de 
mand  for  raw  materials  in  the  North  would  not  com 
pensate  her  for  any  increase  that  might  appear  in  the 
cost  of  the  manufactured  commodities  which  she 
needed.  All  illusions  upon  these  points,  however, 
were  in  time  dispelled.  Slave  labor,  it  was  discovered, 
could  not  at  all  be  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  manufac 
ture.  The  foreign  market  for  raw  cotton,  it  was  found, 
was  even  more  valuable  than  the  home  market  and  the 
freer  the  conditions  of  trade  the  more  inviting  the  for 
eign  market  was  certain  to  be.  Tariffs,  it  was  realized, 
not  only  operated  to  close  markets ;  they  increased  the 
cost  of  clothing,  machinery,  and  other  manufactured 
goods  which  the  planters  had  to  buy.  That  the  South 
not  only  did  not  profit  by  the  protective  system,  but 
actually  suffered  by  reason  of  it,  came  therefore  to  be 
the  settled  conviction  of  most — eventually  of  virtually 
all — Southern  men.  Lowudes  broke  with  protectionism 
in  1820,  Calhoun  not  definitely  before  1826  or  1827; 
but  by  1828  Southern  leaders  were  almost  unanimously 
in  opposition. 

The  enactment  of  the  tariff  of  1828 — a  measure 
framed  by  Southern  men,  as  has  appeared,  expressly 
to  be  defeated — caused  in  the  cotton -growing  states 
chagrin  and  exasperation.  That  such  a  measure  could 
be  passed  seemed  clearly  to  sustain  the  thesis  laid  down 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    203 

by  Webster  that,  for  better  or  for  worse,  protectionism 
had  become  the  settled  policy  of  the  country.  In  the 
manufacturing  states  the  protective  idea  was  rampant. 
Scarcely  less  so  was  it  in  the  great  wool,  hemp,  iron, 
and  food  producing  regions  of  the  West  and  Southwest. 
The  day  seemed  to  have  arrived  when,  in  defense  of 
her  peculiar  interests,  the  South  must  do  more  than 
speak  and  vote  through  her  representatives  in  Congress. 
Protest  hitherto  had  been  by  no  means  lacking.  In 
1824  the  senate  of  South  Carolina  declared  protective 
tariffs  unconstitutional.  A  year  later  the  lower  house 
adopted  a  resolution  affirming  the  inalienable  right  of 
remonstrance  against  federal  encroachments  and  de 
claring  the  laying  of  duties  to  protect  domestic  manu 
factures  to  be  "  an  unconstitutional  exercise  of  power. " 
In  March,  1826,  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  reaffirming 
the  principles  of  the  resolutions  of  1798,  pronounced  a 
protective  tariff  unconstitutional  and  "  highly  oppress 
ive  and  partial  in  its  operation. "  In  December,  1827, 
the  legislature  of  Georgia  adopted  a  report  declaring 
that  "an  increase  of  tariff  duties  will  and  ought  to  be 
resisted  by  all  legal  and  constitutional  means. "  Other 
similar  expressions  antedating  the  act  of  1828  might  be 
cited. 

The  effect  of  the  Tariff  of  Abominations  was  to  call 
out  expressions  still  less  conciliatory  in  tone.  The 
most  noteworthy  was  that  embodied  in  a  set  of  eight 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  legislature  of  South  Caro 
lina,  December  19,  1828,  and  accompanied  by  an  elab 
orate  report,  drafted  originally  by  Calhoun,  known  as 
the  South  Carolina  Exposition.  In  this  composite 
document  were  contained  the  essentials  of  the  constitu 
tional  argument  which  underlay  the  nullification  move 
ment  of  1832 :  that,  namely,  the  federal  government 


204  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

exists  by  virtue  of  a  compact  among  the  states ;  that 
the  powers  which  may  legitimately  be  exercised  by  the 
federal  government  do  not  transcend  those  which  are 
expressly  delegated  in  the  Constitution ;  that  each 
state,  as  a  party  to  the  compact,  has  an  independent 
right,  which  it  enjoys  equally  with  all  the  other  states, 
to  judge  for  itself  the  constitutionality  of  any  measure 
undertaken  by  the  " joint  agent"  of  the  states;  and 
that  any  state,  believing  a  measure  of  the  federal  gov 
ernment  to  have  been  undertaken  in  contravention  of 
the  Constitution,  possesses  the  right  to  interpose  its 
authority  in  its  own  defense,  i.  e.,  to  declare  the  given 
measure,  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  null  and  void. 
In  the  substance  of  this  argument  there  was*  even  in 
1828,  nothing  that  was  new.  The  fundamental  as 
sumptions  upon  which  it  was  based  were  as  old  as  the 
Constitution  itself,  and  in  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia 
Resolutions  of  1797-1798  every  essential  of  the  Calhouu 
doctrine  of  1828  may  easily  be  recognized,  even  to  the 
employment,  in  the  second  set  of  Kentucky  resolutions, 
in  1799,  of  the  word  "nullification."  Calhoun  him 
self,  in  the  treatises  that  flowed  from  his  pen  in  1831, 
surpassed  by  a  wide  margin  the  present  effort  in  elab 
orateness  of  historical  appeal  and  in  subtlety  of  logic. 
The  importance,  none  the  less,  of  the  South  Carolina 
manifesto  of  1828  was  very  great.  The  document  was 
promulgated  at  a  time  when  the  public  mind,  deeply 
agitated,  was  prepared  to  be  profoundly  impressed. 
The  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions  had,  in  their 
day,  fallen  flat.  Despite  the  efforts  of  their  sponsors, 
they  made  but  a  limited  appeal  and  elicited  but  feeble 
response.  The  South  Carolina  pronouncement  of  1823 
met  with  a  very  much  more  cordial  reception.  Three 
other  Southern  states,  through  their  legislatures,  ex- 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    205 

pressed  formal  concurrence  in  part  or  all  of  the  senti 
ments  contained,  and  in  numerous  other  quarters  there 
were  sympathy  and  openly  avowed  support. 

One  circumstance  chiefly,  perhaps  it  alone,  served 
to  avert  an  immediate  attempt  to  reduce  the  theories 
of  the  Exposition  to  practice.  That  was  the  impend 
ing  change  of  administrations,  involving  as  it  did  at 
least  the  possibility  of  a  reversal  of  tariff  policy,  by 
which  the  way  should  be  opened  for  an  easy  and  nat 
ural  escape  from  the  impasse  into  which  the  South  be 
lieved  itself  to  have  been  driven.  In  respect  to  the 
tariff  Jackson,  prior  to  his  election,  had  said  little,  and 
the  little  which  he  had  said  was  to  no  practical  effect. 
He  was  supposed  to  be  mildly  favorable  to  protection, 
but  in  what  measure  he  was  so  and  what  effect  his  at 
titude  would  have  upon  the  existing  situation,  were 
mysteries  no  man  could  fathom.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  the  South  there  was  at  least  some  ground  for 
hope,  and  the  disposition  which  almost  universally 
prevailed  was  to  give  the  new  executive  a  chance  and 
await  developments.  From  the  inaugural  it  was  im 
possible  to  glean  any  distinct  foreshadowings  of  policy, 
and  the  issue  rested  until  the  convening  of  the  Twenty- 
first  Congress,  December  7,  1829.  In  his  first  annual 
message  Jackson  spoke  at  some  length  of  the  tariff,  but 
beyond  a  few  specific  recommendations  respecting 
schedules  he  said  little  that  was  of  definite  import. 
One  thing,  however,  was  manifest :  he  did  not  an 
nounce,  nor  even  counsel,  the  adoption  of  a  policy 
of  systematic  tariff  reduction.  On  the  contrary,  his 
assumption  that  there  would  long  continue  to  accrue 
from  the  tariff  a  surplus  of  revenue  seemed  clearly  to 
indicate  his  purpose  not  at  any  subsequent  time  to  ad 
vocate  the  renunciation  of  protectionism.  He  even 


206  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

suggested  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  if  it 
should  be  deemed  necessary,  to  authorize  the  distribu 
tion  among  the  states  of  the  recurring  surpluses.  The 
South  was  disappointed  grievously ;  and,  although 
there  was  required  the  sting  of  yet  another  protection 
ist  tariff  law  before  nullification  should  be  undertaken, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  with  the  sending  in  of 
the  first  Jackson  message  to  Congress  the  fateful  issue 
was  definitely  reopened. 

It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  that  there  took  place 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  one  of  the  most  memorable 
of  debates,  participated  in  by  two  of  the  most  skilled 
debaters,  and  upon  the  most  fundamental  of  subjects 
known  to  American  history.  December  29,  1829, 
Samuel  A.  Foote^  senator  from  Connecticut,  introduced 
in  the  Senate  a  resolution  jyherebv  the_Committeej)u 
Public  Lands  was  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expe 
diency  of  limiting  &>£_a  period  the ialesofpublic  lands 
to  such  lands  as  had  theretofore  been  placed  upon  the 
market  and  were  subject  to  entry  at  the  minimum 
price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  In  itself,  the  resolution  was 
harmless  enough.  It  had  been  pointed  out  by  the 
commissioner  of  the  laud  office  that  the  supply  of  land 
upon  the  market  far  exceeded  the  demand  and  that 
sales  were  proceeding  in  a  sluggish  and  haphazard 
manner,  and  Senator  Foote  proposed  simply  that  the 
placing  of  new  lands  upon  the  market  should  be  dis 
continued  pending  an  investigation  of  the  conditions 
attending  current  sales.  No  sooner  did  the  resolution 
make  its  appearance,  however,  than  it  was  challenged 
by  the  representatives  of  the  Middle  West,  and  it  was 
only  over  vigorous  protest  that  its  consideration  was 
set  for  the  eleventh  day  of  January,  1830.  The  debate 
upon  it  was  begun,  in  point  of  fact,  on  the  thirteenth. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    207 

On  the  eighteenth  Senator  Benton,  of  Missouri,  deliv 
ered  a  lengthy  speech  in  which  it  was  maintained  that 
the  "West  had  been  called  upon  much  too  frequently 
to  sacrifice  its  interests  at  the  behest  of  the  East,  that 
the  prospeVitj'^^the'West Jl <*?(*" rl eft  a.hsf>l iijgljjTjvrvn 
the  rapid  and  Unobstructed  settlement  jrfjthe  country, 
and  that  the~present  measure,  by  imposing  restrictions 
upon  the  sale  of  public  lands,  was  calculated  to  retard 
the  progress  of  the  section  of  the  nation  which  the 
speaker  represented.  A  number  of  members  partici 
pated  in  the  general  discussion  that  followed,  among 
them  Ho)mes,  of  Maine,  who  spoke  in  defense  of  the 
resolution.  The  last  speaker  of  the  day  was  Eobert  Y. 
Hayne,  of  South  Carolina. 

Hayne  belonged  to  the  younger  group  of  members  of 
the  upper  house.  He  was  representative  of  all  that  was 
proudest  and  best  in  the  South  Carolina  of  his  time — a 
man  of  education  and  dignity,  an  able  lawyer,  a  fluent 
orator,  a  persuasive  debater,  and  an  adroit  parliamen 
tarian.  Since  his  election  to  the  popular  branch  of  the 
legislature  of  his  state  in  1814  he  had  risen  rapidly  in 
the  public  eye.  In  1822  he  was  chosen  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  in  1823  he  took  his  seat  in  that 
body.  At  Washington  he  won  almost  instant  distinc 
tion  by  a  powerful  speech  in  opposition  to  the  tariff 
of  1824,  and  in  the  years  that  ensued  he  came  to  be 
known  and  feared  as  the  ablest  and  boldest  spokesman 
of  the  South  in  the  upper  house.  As  early  as  1826, 
during  the  course  of  the  debates  on  the  Panama  mis 
sion,  he  sounded  the  threat  that  secession  would  be  the 
remedy  to  which  resort  would  be  had  in  the  event  that 
the  security  of  the  slaveholding  interests  should  con 
tinue  to  bo  menaced.  In  1828  he  was  reflected  to  the 
Senate  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  South  Carolina  legis- 


208  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

lature,  and  during  the  troubled  period  which  followed 
the  enactment  of  the  tariff  of  that  year  he  assumed 
within  his  state  a  position  of  more  open,  if  not  more 
effective,  leadership  than  even  that  occupied  by  d  1- 
houn.  As  yet,  in  1830,  it  should  be  observed,  Calhouu 
was  silenced  in  a  measure  by  his  tenure  of  the  vice- 
presidential  office. 

In  his  speech  of  January  19th  Hayue  vigorous  y 
attacked  the  Foote  resolution.  He  contended,  in  the 
first  place,  that  its  adoption  would  impose  a  restriction 
upon  the  natural  development  of  the  West  and  that  it 
i  ndubltably  wa^a^^enton~"and~otTTel^ r  "Western  sen  a  to  i  %s 
had  contended,  an  expression  of  Eastern  jealousy  of, 
and  unfriendliness  toward,  the  West.  He  made  much 
of  the  argument  that  there  existed  a  natural  sympathy 
between  the  West  and  tlie~Houlih,  ancTcalled  upon  the 
West"~lJo~ "recognize  in  the  South,  rather  than  in  the 
East,  its  logical  ally.  The  proposed  measure,  he 
urged,  was  but  one  manifesta tip n  of  the  deep-seated 
disposition  on  the  pajrt^of  f  heTlasJ^iid_  particularly 
^e^5BjS3an^-^°  ^heck  _  westward  inigratioii,  to  build 
up  manufactures,  and  to  perpetuate_jn definitely  the 
protective  system.  Finally,  there  was  deprecation  of 
all  " unnecessary  extension  of_ti)e  powers_or  the  in 
fluence  of  the  Legislatures  or  Exec'iitivejjf  tlifi  Union 
over  thelStafes,  or  the  peogle_pf  the  States." 
*~At  fiEe  moment  when  Hayne  began  speaking  Web 
ster,  quite  by  chance  it  appears,  came  into  the  Senate 
chamber  from  the  Supreme  Court.  Completely  en 
grossed  by  pending  business  in  the  Court,  he  had 
given  thus  far  little  or  no  attention  to  a  debate  whose 
principal  feature  appeared  to  be  the  readiness  of  the 
speakers  to  wander  from  the  point  at  issue.  On  the 
next  day,  the  20th,  argument  was  to  begin  in  an  im* 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    209 

portaut  cause  in  which  Webster  was  employed,  that  of 
Carver's  Lessees  vs.  John  Jacob  Astor,  arising  out 
of  a  controversy  between  the  fur  magnate  and  the 
state  of  New  York.  Seemingly  it  was  only  by  the 
hearing  of  Hayne's  discourse  that  the  Massachusetts 
senator,  moved  by  resentment  of  the  reproaches  cast 
upon  his  section  and  alarmed  by  the  frankness  of 
the  South  Carolinian's  particularistic  appeals,  was 
prompted  to  enter  the  lists.  This  does  not  mean  that 
Webster  was  not  willing  enough  to  take  advantage  of 
any  opportunity  that  might  arise  to  defend  with  all 
the  eloquence  of  which  he  was  master  both  his  section 
and  the  Union.  It  does  not  mean,  even,  that  he  was 
not,  at  this  stage  of  his  career,  half-consciously  seeking 
precisely  the  sort  of  opportunity  that  now  presented 
itself.  It  only  means  that  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  Webster  had  expected  the  Foote  resolution  to  be 
productive  of  such  an  opportunity,  or  that  he  had  ex 
pected  to  participate  in  the  discussion  which  grew  out 
of  that  proposal.  *That  the  contest  with  Hayiie  was 
entered  upon  without  premeditation  is  the  direct  testi 
mony  of  Webster  himself.  Speaking  in  New  York,  in 
March,  1831,  upon  the  occasion  of  a  public  dinner  in 
his  honor,  he  declared  :  "Seeing  the  true  grounds  of 
the  Constitution  thus  attacked,  I  raised  my  voice  in 
its  favor,  I  must  confess,  with  no  preparation  or  pre 
vious  intention.  I  can  hardly  say  that  I  embarked  in 
the  contest  from  a  sense  of  duty.  It  was  an  instanta 
neous  impulse  of  inclination,  not  acting  against  duty,  I 
trust,  but  hardly  waiting  for  its  suggestions.  I  felt  it 
to  be  a  contest  for  the  integrity  of  the  Constitution, 
and  I  was  ready  to  enter  into  it,  not  thinking,  or 
caring,  personally,  how  I  might  come  out. "  * 
1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  211. 


210  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

At  the  conclusion  of  Hayne's  speech,  on  the  19th, 
WeJ)ster  rose  to  undertake  a  reply,  but  a  motion  to 
adjourn  cut  off  debate  and  the  intended  reply  was  made 
upon  the  following  day.  The  speech  of  January  20th3 
characterized  properly  by  Mr.  Lodge  as  "one  of  the 
most  effective  retorts,  one  of  the  strongest  pieces  of 
destructive  criticism,  ever  uttered  in  the  Senate,"  ' 
comprised  in  its  essentials  a  vindication  of  the  policy 
of  the  government  toward  the  newer  states  oFTEe  West 
and,  ^^e'hotabiy^a^efeTlSe  of  New  Epglari(ras~a  see- 
t ion ^agaihsf  j£e_charges  of  selfishness,  j eafousy ,  and 
Disloyalty  which  "had  been  brought  jigainsfTTerT  Not 
only  was  it  denied  that  the  East  had  at  any  time  shown 
an  illiberal  policy  toward  the  West  j  it  was  demon 
strated  by  a  brilliant  review  of  public  measures,  begin 
ning  with  the  Northwest  Ordinance,  that  again  and 
again  legislation  admittedly  favorable  to  the  West  had 
been  carried  only  with  the  aid  of  New  England  votes. 
The  tendency^  of  such  utterances  as  those  voiced  by 
Hayne  "  to_bring  the  Union  into  discussion,  as  a  mere 
question  of  present  and  femjporarjLexpe^rency ' '  was 
especially  lamented.3 

On  the  following  day  a  member  from  Maryland,  in 
recognition  of  Webster's  engagement  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  moved  a  postponement  of  the  continuation  of 
the  discussion.  But  Hayne_  demanded  the  privilege  of 
an  immediate  reply,  and  Webster  was  obliged  to  mod 
ify  his  plans  in  ordeTto  remain  in  the  Senate  chamber, 
The  speech  begun  by  Hayne  on  the  21st  and  completed 
four  days  later  covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  Dis 
claiming  antipathy  toward  the  people  of  New  England, 

1  Lodge,  "Webster,"  p.  173. 

2  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  248-269;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  248-269. 


IK  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYKE  DEBATE    211 

the  speaker  none  the  less  rejterated  his  charges  of  Fed- 
eralist  disloyalty  a^d^c^^ed^We^ster  himself  of  irn- 
i^licaiionin"  political  "  bargain  and  corruff.tiau."  He 
lamented  the  tendency  of  the  times  toward  a  policy  of 
'  *  consolidation, 7 '  anoThe  pointed  to  the  tariifof  1828 
as  an  unmistakable  manifestation  of  that  policy.  And, 
citing  freely  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions 
and  the  South  Carolina  Exposition,  he  developed  with 
some  minuteness  and  ingenuity  the  fundamental  pmli- 
cations,  doctrines,  and  conclusions  of  state  rightejind 
nullification.  Throughout  thlT  speech  Webster  took 
notes,  and  at  its  close  he  rose  to  reply.  An  adjourn 
ment  was  moved  and  carried  ;  but  under  the  rules  of 
the  Senate  the  Massachusetts  member  was  entitled  to 
the  floor  at  the  opening  of  the  next  day's  sitting. 

Already  the  brilliance  of  the  debate  had  attracted 
wide  attention.  The  hotels  of  the  city  were  filled  with 
people  who  had  come  from  a  distance  to  follow  the 
course  of  the  discussion,  and  when,  on  the  morning  of 
the  26th,  the  doors  of  the  Senate  chamber  were  thrown 
open,  every  available  inch  of  space  in  the  galleries  and 
on  the  floor  was  soon  filled  with  interested,  and  even 
excited,  spectators.  So  great  was  the  pressure  that  all 
rules  respecting  the  attendance  of  the  public  were 
waived.  Ladies  were  admitted  to  the  seats  of  the 
members,  and  the  throng  overflowed  through  the  lob 
bies  and  down  the  long  stairways,  quite  beyond  hear 
ing  distance.  In  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  the 
Speaker  remained  at  his  post,  but  the  attendance  was 
so  scant  that  no  business  could  be  transacted.  "I 
never  spoke,"  declared  Webster  subsequently,  "in  the 
presence  of  an  audience  so  eager  and  so  sympathetic. "  l 

1  Webster  to  Button,  March  8,  1830.  Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence/'  Vol.  I,  p.  494.  For  a  graphic  description  of  the 


212  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

No  possible  incentive  to  powerful  exertion,  indeed, 
was  lacking.     The 


nothing  less  thaiF'the  jiature  jm_d  pej^aajaence  of  the 
Union.^  The  forces  iifopposition,  represented  not 
alone  by  the  dashing  senator  from  South  Carolina,  but 
by  the  still  better  known  South  Carolinian  to  whom  it 
fell  to  occupy  the  chair  while  the  debate  proceeded, 
were  adroit  and  commanding.  The  hearing  repre 
sented  the  finest  culture  and  ability  of  the  country. 
In  the  heart  of  Webster,  now  in  his  physical  and  intel 
lectual  prime,  these  circumstances  inspired  only  con 
fidence,  resoluteness,  and  fervor.  Already  recognized 
as  the  foremost  statesman  of  New  England,  the  ablest 
American  constitutional  lawyer,  and  the  greatest  of 
American  orators,  he  rose  with  all  his  superb  dignity 
and  capacity  to  meet  an  occasion  which  meant  not  only 
the  crowning  or  the  collapse  of  his  own  reputation  but 
the  vindication  or  the  discrediting  of  the  conception  of 
national  unity  and  vigor  for  which  he  stood.  Again 
he  spoke  with  such  immediate  preparation  only  as  the 
labors  of  a  single  night  made  possible.  His  written 
materials  were  confined  to  five  letter-paper  pages  of 
notes.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  __en  tire  previous 
career  of  thejnjinjia^j^mis^^ 

cisely  such  a  supreme  effort.  The  origins  of  the  fed  - 
eTal  union.  £Ke  theories  and  applications  of  the  Consti 
tution,  the  history  and  character  of  the  doctrine  of  nul 
lification  —  these  were  matters  with  which  years  of 
study,  observation,  professional  activity,  and  ac 
quaintance  with  great  men  had  made  him  absolutely 


scene  and  of  Webster's  manner  upon  the  occasion  see  March, 
44  Reminiscences  of  Congress,"  pp.  182-148,  reproduced  in  part  in 
Everett's  ''Memoir,"  in  "Works  of  Daniel  Webster,1"  Vol.  1,  pp. 
92-97. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    213 

familiar ;  and  while  there  devolved  upon  him  in  the 
few  hours  preceding  his  speech  of  the  26th  the  marshal 
ing  of  his  materials  and  the  blocking  out  of  the  pro 
portions  and  sequences  of  his  arguments,  he  was 
equipped  in  both  mental  power  and  range  of  knowledge 
to  accomplish  the  task  with  a  readiness  and  a  thor 
oughness  of  which  no  other  living  American  would 
have  been  capable. 

The  "  Second  Reply  to  Hayne,"  as  the  speech  of  the 
26th  and  27th  is  commonly  known,  opened  with  an  ex 
ordium  calculated  to  alleviate  the  tenseness  of  the  mo 
ment  and  to  supply  the  forthcoming  argument  with  a 
direct  ana  appealing  introduction.  "  Mr.  President," 
began  the  speaker,  <  i  when  the  mariner  has  been  tossed 
for  many  days  in  thick  weather,  and  on  an  unknown 
sea,  he  naturally  avails  himself  of  the  first  pause  in  the 
storm,  the  earliest  glance  of  the  sun,  to  take  his  lati 
tude,  and  ascertain  how  far  the  elements  have  driven 
him  from  his  true  course.  Let  us  imitate  this  prudence, 
and,  before  we  float  farther  on  the  waves  of  this  de 
bate,  refer  to  the  point  from  which  we  departed,  that 
we  may  at  least  be  able  to  conjecture  where  we  now 
are."  l  The  attention  of  the  Senate  was  then  directed 
in  a  simple  manner  to  the  fact  that  the  proposal  nomi 
nally  under  consideration,  i.e.,  the  Foote  Resolution, 
had  been  quite  lost  to  view,  and  in  the  earlier  portion 
of  the  speech  an  effort  was  made  to  bring  back  the  dis 
cussion  to  its  point  of  departure.  The  text  of  the  en 
tire  speech,  as  reported  by  Joseph  Gales,  senior  editor 
of  the  National  Intelligencer,  fills  seventy -three  pages 
of  print,  and  of  this  amount  no  fewer  than  forty -eight 
pages  are  taken  up  with  a  defense_of  Now  England, 

144  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  270;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  3. 


214  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  especially  Massachusetts,  against  the  charges  of 
sectionalism  and  disloyalty  reiterated  in  the  second 
speech  of  Hayne.  Once  more,  and  at  greater  length, 
was  reviewed,  with  a  wealth  of  illustration  and  his 
torical  allusion,  New  England7 s  share  in  the  settlement 
and  development  of  the  West,  in  the  promotion  of  a 
liberal  public  land  policy,  in  the  making  of  provision 
for  internal  improvements,  and  in  the  enactment  oi 
tariff  legislation ;  and  it  was  denied  with  fresh  vigor 
that  New  England  as  a  section  had  ever  countenanced 
disunion — even  that  the  Hartford  Convention  had  nur 
tured  the  treasonable  sentiment  which  Hayne  ascribed 
to  it.  Few  of  Webster's  utterances  are  more  familiar 
than  the  sentences  with  which  this  portion  of  the 
speech  was  brought  to  a  close.  "Mr.  President,"  he 
declared,  "  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  she  needs  none.  There  she  is.  Behold  her, 
and  judge  for  yourselves.  There  is  her  history  ;  the 
world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure. 
There  is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  Lexington,  and 
Bunker  Hill ;  and  there  they  will  remain  forever. 
The  bones  of  her  sous,  falling  in  the  great  struggle  for 
Independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of  every 
state  from  New  England  to  Georgia ;  and  there  they 
will  lie  forever.  And,  sir,  where  American  Liberty 
raised  its  first  voice,  and  where  its  youth  was  nurtured 
and  sustained,  there  it  still  lives,  in  the  strength  of  its 
manhood  and  fall  of  its  original  spirit.  If  discord  and 
disunion  shall  wound  it,  if  party  strife  and  blind  am 
bition  shall  hawk  at  and  tear  it,  if  folly  and  madness, 
if  uneasiness  under  salutary  and  necessary  restraint, 
shall  succeed  in  separating  it  from  the  Union,  by  which 
alone  its  existence  is  made  sure,  it  will  stand,  in  the 
end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its  infancy  was 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE     215 

rocked  j  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm  with  whatever  of 
vigor  it  may  still  retain  over  the  friends  who  gather 
round  it  j  and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it  must,  amidst 
the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own  glory,  and  on  the 
very  spot  of  its  origin." 1 

The  portion  of  thff  Second  Tfoply,  how^v^r,  which 
entitles  thespeech  to  be  considered  the  most  remark  - 
able  injEhe  history  of  American  forensics 
was  devoted  to  refutation  of  the  doctrii 

e  solidarity  and  indestructibility 
of  the  Union.^  "  There  remains  yet  to  be  performed, 
Mr.  'president, "  declared  the  speaker,  "by  far  the 
most  grave  and  important  duty,  which  I  feel  to  be 
devolved  upon  me  by  this  occasion.  It  is  to  state,  and 
to  defend,  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  true  principles 
of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  are  here  assembled. " 
The  wish  was  avowed  that  the  task  might  have  fallen 
"into  abler  and  better  hands''  ;  but  the  occasion  had 
been  il encountered,  not  sought,''  and  Webster  was  the 
last  among  men  to  shrink  from  the  responsibilities 
which  it  imposed.  The  position  assumed  by  Hayne 
had  been  that  it  was  the  right^of  the  legislature  of  a 
state  to  interven^wheneveFTn  its  judgment  the  federal 
governln^B^'WouTd^Eranscend  its  constThitlonal  limi Fs, 
and  ur"t!lwart  the  execution  of  any  and  all  measures 
of  thaVfovernment  adjudged  byTOo  De  unconstitu- 
tionltfc — The-valiclit^oT  ^lis^roposition^Webstei-  un 
reservedly  denied.  That  there  exists,  in  the  United 
Sta^eTas^in~all  nations,  an  ultimate  right  of  Devolution, 
and  that  the  people,  here  as  elsewhere,  had  a  right 
to  resist  thj^jexejjution  of  unconstitutional  laws,  he 
declareOoJae-aliogether  bevond  ^uestioii.  But  that 

1  "Works    of    Webster,"    Vol.    Ill,    p.    317;    "Writings  and 
"  Vol.  VI,  p.  50, 


216  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

between  Jmplicit  and  universal  obedience  to  law,  on 
the  one  haudf,  and^^oIuirdnTTnvolving  the  overthrow 
of  the  existing  order  and  the  establishment  of  a  new 
one,  on  the  other  hand,  there  could  be  any  admissible 
middle_cpurse,  was  pronounced  an  egregious  and  alarm 
ing  fallacy.  It  being  agreed  that  the  people  ought 
not  to  be  expected  to  be  obedient  to  unconstitutional 
laws,  the  vital  question,  it  was  pointed  out,  was  as  to 
whose  prerogative  it  was  to  decide  the  constitution 
ality  or  unconstitutionally  of  measures  which  should 
"BeTBrought  fn~~"question.  The  contention  of  Hayue 
and  of  his  school  was  that  this  power  was  lodged,  not 
in  the  general  government  or  in  any  branch  thereof, 
but  in  the  legislatures L  of_ the  severaljovereign  states. 
Webster's  contention  was  that  it  was  lodged  in  a 
branch^ of  the  federal  government,  namely  in  the  judi- 
ciaryj  that  this  branch  of  the  government  was  created 
in  part  to  discharge  this  very  function  ;  that  a  federal 
law  whose  unconstitutionally  was  doubted  could  be 
put  to  a  test  in  the  courts  at  any  time  ;  that  a  measure 
so  tested,  and  adjudged  constitutional,  must  be  obeyed 
implicitly  so  long  as  it  should  remain  upon  the  statute 
books  ;  and  that  the  proper  recourse  of  its  opponents 
was  not  "  nullification  "  but  rather  the  inducing  of  the 
immecQ'ate'  repeaT'of "the" "measure,  or  the  accomplish 
ment  of  fEe ~same~end  m6Te~lJlowiy_by^returning  to 
Congress  a  sulScieut"  number 7>F~members  of  like  mind 
wTTETEeinselves,  or  evenl>y"'bringiug"ab6ut  an  aniend- 
meliF  of  the  OonstiiufTour 

The  issue  hinged  squarely,  of  course,  upon  the  char 
acter  of  the  union  established  under  the  Constitution, 
and  inevitably  Webster  was  led  to  declare  himself  at 
length  upon  this  subject.  Tho^jintionaj^  government 
was  asserted  unequivocally  to  be  the  creature,  not  of 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    217 

the  states,  but  of  the  people1  who  alonejsan  "control 
it,  resTfMirftTgo^^Qr  reform  ij. "  Against  Hayne's 
obj  ection  thaF"  * '  the  people  of^  the  United  States ' 7 
meant^only  the  people  of  the  several  states,  it  was 
maintained  that  it  was  by  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  collective  capacity,!  that  the_  Constitution 
was  ordained  and  established.  "  It  is,  sir,  the  people's  ^ 
Constitution,  the  people's  government,  made  for  the 
people,  made  by  the  people,  and  answerable  to  the 
people.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  de 
clared  that  this  Constitution  shall  be  the  supreme 
law.  */Ve  must  either  admit  the  proposition,  or  dis 
pute  their  authority.  The  states  are,  unquestionably,' 
sovereign,  so  far  as  their  sovereignty  is  not  affected  by 
this  supreme  law.  But  the  state  legislatures,  as  polit 
ical  bodies,  however  sovereign,  are  yet  not  sovereign 
over  the  people.  So  far  as  the  people  have  given 
power  to  the  general  government,  so  far  the  grant  is 
unquestionably  good,  and  the  government  holds  of  the 
people,  and  not  of  the  state  governments.  "We  are  all 
agents  of  the  same  supreme  power,  the  peopl 
From  all  this  it  followed  that  when  the  sovereign 
people  should  become  dissatisfied  with  the  distribution 
of  powers  wliich  had  been  effected  they  couldalter 
it,  through  thejrocess  of  constifutional  amendment. 
" BuTTintiTthey  shall  alter  it,"  it  was  urged,  "it  must 
stondJg~tMtrjrill?  and  is  equally  binding  on.  the 
general  governmentjind  on  the  states." 

Webster's  arguments  were  drawn,  however,  not 
only  from  constitutional  theory  but  also  from  con 
siderations  of  political  practicability.  Using  for  pur 
pose  of  illustration  the  tariff  law  of  1828,  he  exposed 

'"Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  321;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  54. 


218  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

with  startling  clearness  the  practical  difficulties  to 
which  the  nullificatiouist  doctrine,  if  put  into  opera 
tion,  would  lead.  "The  tariff  [so  Hayne  had  de 
clared]  is  a  usurpation  ;  it  is  a,  dangerous  usurpation  ; 
it  is  a  palpable  usurpation  ;  it  is  a  deliberate  usurpa 
tion.  It  is  such  a  usurpation,  therefore,  as  calls  upon 
the  states  to  exercise  their  right  of  interference.  .  .  . 
Let  us  suppose  the  state  of  South  Carolina  to  express 
this  same  opinion,  by  the  voice  of  her  legislature. 
That  would  be  very  imposing  ;  but  what  then  ?  Is  the 
voice  of  one  state  conclusive  ?  It  so  happens  that,  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  state  of  South  Carolina 
resolves  that  the  tariff  laws  are  unconstitutional, 
Pennsylvania  and  Kentucky  resolve  exactly  the 
reverse.  They  hold  those  laws  to  be  both  highly 
proper  and  strictly  constitutional.  And  now,  sir,  how 
does  the  honorable  member  propose  to  deal  with  this 
case?  How  does  he  relieve  us  from  this  difficulty, 
upon  any  principle  of  his?  His  construction  gets  us 
into  it ;  how  does  he  propose  to  get  us  out  ?  In  Caro 
lina,  the  tariff  is  a  palpable,  deliberate  usurpation  ; 
Carolina,  therefore,  may  nullify  it,  and  refuse  to  pay 
the  duties.  In  Pennsylvania,  it  is  both  clearly  con 
stitutional  and  highly  expedient ;  and  there  the  duties 
are  to  be  paid.  And  yet  we  live  under  a  government 
of  uniform  laws,  and  under  a  Constitution,  too,  whicii 
contains  an  express  provision,  as  it  happens,  that  all 
duties  shall  be  equal  in  all  the  states.  Does  not  this 
approach  absurdity  ?  If  there  be  no  power  to  settle 
such  questions,  independent  of  either  of  the  states,  is 
not  the  whole  Union  a  rope  of  sand  ?  Are  we  not 
thrown  back,  again,  precisely  upon  the  old  Confedera 
tion  ?  It  is  too  plain  to  be  argueqL  Four-and-twenty 
interpreters  of  constitutional  law,  each  with  a  power  to 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    219 

decide  for  itself,  and  none  with  authority  to  bind  any 
body  else,  and  this  constitutional  law  the  only  bond  of 
their  union  !  "  l 

Far  from  having  left  to  the  states  the  determination 
of  the  constitutional  questions  which  should  inevitably 
arise,  the  people,  Webster  maintained,  had  created  the 
Constitution  with  the  express  purpose  of  establishing  a 
government  that  should  not  be  obliged  to  act  through 
state  agency  or  to  depend  on  state  opinion  and  state 
discretion.  "  Sir,  the  people  have  wisely  provided  in 
the  Constitution  itself,  a  proper  and  suitable  mode  and 
tribunal  for  settling  questions  of  constitutional  law. 
There  are  in  the  Constitution  grants  of  powers  to  Con 
gress,  and  restrictions  on  these  powers.  There  are, 
also,  prohibitions  on  the  states.  Some  authority  must, 
therefore,  necessarily  exist,  having  the  ultimate  juris 
diction  to  fix  and  ascertain  the  interpretation  of  these 
grants,  restrictions,  and  prohibitions.  The  Constitu 
tion  has  itself  pointed  out,  ordained,  and  established 
that  authority.  How  has  it  accomplished  this  great 
and  essential  end  ?  By  declaring,  sir,  that  *  the  Con- 
stitution,  and  the_laws  of  the  United  States  made  in 
pursuance"TEeiSpj^  shall_be  the  supreme  jaw  of  the 
land,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  state 
to  the~contrary_notwithstanding.?  This,  sir,  was  the 
first  greaTstep.  By  this  the  supremacy  of  the  Consti 
tution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  is  declared.  The 
people  so  will  it.  No  state  law  is  to  be  void  which 
comes  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution,  or  any  law  of 
the  United  States  passed  in  pursuance  of  it.  But  who 
shall  decide  this  question  of  interference  ?  To  whom 
lies  the  last  appeal?  This,  sir,  the  Constitution  itself 

1  "  Works  of  Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  323-324  ;  "  Writings 
and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  56-57. 


220  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

decides  also,  by  declaring,  <  that Jfc£  judicial  power 
shall  extend  to  MLcaseO£MfigJu^^ 
and  laws  of  the  United  States. '  These  two  provisions 
cover  the  whole  ground.  They  are,  in  truth,  the  key 
stone  of  the  arch  !  With  these  it  is  a  government ; 
without  them  it  is  a  confederation." 

In  a  peroration  of  unsurpassed  eloquence  Webster 
advanced  to  the  objective  point  of  the  entire  effort, 
namely,  a  plea  for  the  maintenance  inviolate,  and  for 
all  time,  of  the.  Union.  ~ "  Iff/lPl'esiden^nEe'said,  "  I 
have  thus  stated  the  reasons  of  my  dissent  to  the  doc 
trines  which  have  been  advanced  and  maintained.  I 
iiiu  conscious  of  having  detained  you  and  the  Senate 
much  too  long.  I  was  drawn  into  the  debate  with  no 
previous  deliberation,  such  as  is  suited  to  the  discus 
sion  of  so  grave  and  important  a  subject.  But  it  is  a 
subject  of  which  my  heart  is  full,  and  I  have  not  been 
willing  to  suppress  the  utterance  of  its  spontaneous 
sentiments.  I  cannot,  even  now,  persuade  myself  to 
relinquish  it,  without  expressing  once  more  my  deep 
conviction  that,  since  it  respects  nothing  less  than  the 
Union  of  the  States,  it  is  of  most  vital  and  essential 
importance  to  the  public  happiness.  I  profess,  sir,  in 
my  career  hitherto,  to  have  kept  steadily  in  view  the 
prosperity  and  honor  of  the  whole  country,  and  the 
]> reservation  of  our  Federal  Union.  It  is  to  that  Union 
we  owe  our  safety  at  home,  and  our  consideration  and 
dignity  abroad.  It  is  to  that  Union  that  we  are 
chiefly  indebted  for  whatever  makes  us  most  proud 
of  our  country.  That  Union  we  reached  only  by  the 
discipline  of  our  virtues  in  the  severe  school  of  adver 
sity.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  necessities  of  disordered 
finance,  prostrate  commerce,  and  ruined  credit. 
Under  its  benign  influences,  these  great  interests  im- 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    221 

mediately  awoke,  as  from  the  dead,  and  sprang  forth 
with  newness  of  life.  Every  year  of  its  duration  has 
teemed  with  fresh  proofs  of  its  utility  and  its  bless 
ings  ;  and  although  our  territory  has  stretched  out 
wider  and  wider,  and  our  population  spread  farther 
and  farther,  they  have  not  outrun  its  protection  or  its 
benefits.  It  has  been  to  us  all  a  copious  fountain  of 
national,  social,  and  personal  happiness. 

"  I  have  not  allowed  myself,  sir,  to  look  beyond  the 
Union,  to  see  what  might  lie  hidden  in  the  dark  recess 
behind.  I  have  not  coolly  weighed  the  chances  of  pre 
serving  liberty  when  the  bonds  that  unite  us  together 
shall  be  broken  asunder.  I  have  not  accustomed  my 
self  to  hang  over  the  precipice  of  disunion,  to  see 
whether,  with  my  short  sight,  I  can  fathom  the  depth 
of  the  abyss  below  ;  nor  could  I  regard  him  as  a  safe 
counselor  in  the  affairs  of  this  government,  whose 
thoughts  should  be  mainly  bent  on  considering,  not 
how  the  Union  may  be  best  preserved,  but  how  toler 
able  might  be  the  condition  of  the  people  when  it 
should  be  broken  up  and  destroyed.  While  the  Union 
lasts,  we  have  high,  exciting,  gratifying  prospects 
spread  out  before  us,  for  us  and  our  children.  Beyond 
that  I  seek  not  to  penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant  that 
in  my  day,  at  least,  that  curtain  may  not  rise  !  God 
grant  that  on  my  vision  never  may  be  opened  what 
lies  behind  !  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  li&~^>s 
hold  for  the  last  time  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see 
him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments 
of  a  once  glorious  Union  ;  on  states  dissevered,  dis 
cordant,  belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds, 
or  drenched,  it  may  be,  In  fraternal  blood  !  Let  their 
last  feeble  and  lingering  glance  rather  behold  the  gor 
geous  ensign  of  the  republic,  now  known  and  honored 


222  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms 
and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a 
stripe  erased  or  polluted,  nor  a  single  star  obscured, 
bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory 
as  '  What  is  all  this  worth  * '  nor  those  other  words  of 
delusion  and  folly,  l  Liberty  first  and  Union  after 
ward  '  ;  but  everywhere,  spread  all  over  in  characters 
of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they 
float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  laud,  and  in  every 
wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other  sentiment, 
dear  to  every  true  American  heart — ( Liberty  and 
Union,  n^^anjl_^e^ejr^£e_and  inseparable  ty  "  * 

Webster's  speech  occupied  some  threeThburs  on  the 
26th  and  was  concluded,  in  the  space  of  approxi 
mately  an  hour,  upon  the  following  day.  To  it  Hayne 
made  reply  immediately  and  at  some  length,  maintain 
ing  still  that  each  state  is  "an  independent  sover 
eignty,"  that  the  union  is  built  upon  a  compact,  and 
that  every  party  to  the  compact  is  a  rightful  judge  of 
violations  of  the  fundamental  agreement  by  which  all 
are  bound  together.  The  argument  was  closer  and 
more  forcible  than  that  made  from  this  point  of  view 
during  the  earlier  portion  of  the  debate,  but  in  a  brief 
series  of  concluding  remarks  Webster  effectually  de 
molished  most  of  the  assumptions  upon  which  it  was 
based.2  The  discussion  of  Foote's  resolution  was  con 
tinued  intermittently  through  upward  of  four  months. 
More  than  half  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  partici 
pated  in  it ;  but  long  before  May  21st,  when,  in  accord 
ance  with  a  motion  of  Webster,  the  proposal  was  laid 
upon  the  table,  the  country  had  ceased  to  have  an  in- 

1  "Works  of  Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  341-342  ;  "Writings 
and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  74-75. 

9  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  76-80. 


IN  THE  SENATE  :  THE  HAYNE  DEBATE    223 

terest  in  it.  Save  for  the  debate  to  which  the  consid 
eration  of  it  led,  the  resolution  would  hardly  be  men 
tioned  in  books  to-day. 

That  debate,  however,  was  ea^ily_the_ablest  and  the 
most  momentous  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 
It  servetT  to  set  before  the  country  with  exactness 
hitherto  unattamed  the  -position  occupied  by  thejwo 
great  ~§cliools~of  politicaTfEought  whicj^  were  battling 
for  the  popular  supgort^  TheTcontest,  of  course,  was 
not  at""  all  cfecisive.  Large  numbers  of  men  whose 
views  had  been  hazy  were  led  unquestionably  to  the 
adoption  of  the  strictly  nationalist  interpretation  of 
the  Constitution  for  which  Webster  argued  ;  but,  sim 
ilarly,  other  men  of  ill -defined  opinions  were  won  over 
by  the  arguments  of  Hayne.  And  probably  very  few 
people  whose  ideas  upon  the  subject  discussed  were  al 
ready  clear  were  affected,  other  than  by  being  con 
firmed  in  their  opinions.  But  the  effect  was  at  least 
to  clarify  the  political  thinking  of  the  people  of  jill 
sections  of  the  coujTtryl  At  some~points  Webster  was 
undeniably  upon  the  surer  ground,  at  other  points 
Hayne.  The  facts  of  history  were  in  no  small  degree 
favorable  to  Hayne' s  contention,  and  although  Web 
ster  felt  obliged  to  recur  to  argument  from  the  intent 
of  the  frarners  of  the  Constitution  and  the  ideas  gener 
ally  prevailing  in  1787-1789,  he  was  in  these  matters 
least  convincing.  Upon  conditions  and  questions  of 
an  economic  nature,  notably  the  operation  of  the  tariff, 
he  likewise  was  at  a  disadvantage,  and  he  strove  in  so 
far  as  possible  to  keep  clear  of  this  ground.  The 
South  had  a  real  economic  grievance,  and  Webster  was 
well  enough  aware  that  it  could  not  be  argued  out  of 
existence. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  his  contentions  based  upon 


224  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tlie  impracticability  of  nullification  as  a  working  prin 
ciple  of  government  he  had  a  tremendous  advantage 
and  one  which  he  did  not  fail  to  use  to  the  utmos  . 
The  most  unanswerable  portion  of  his  argument  wi  s 
that  wherein  he  demonstrated  that  nullification,  in 
practice,  could  of  necessity  mean  nothing  but  chaos. 
Finally,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  logic  of  the  largu* 
phases  of  the  situation  lay  with  the  New  Euglander. 
If  the  Union  for  which  he  made  his  plea  was  iu-t 
the  Union  which  the  fathers  intended  to  establish, 
or  that  which  actually  existed  in  the  days  of  Wasl  - 
iugton  and  John  Adams,  it  was  at  any  rate  the 
Union  in  which,  by  the  close  of  the  fourth  decade  UL  - 
der  the  Constitution,  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  had  come  to  believe.  It  was  the  Union 
of  Henry  Clay,  of  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  And  the  largest  significance  of  Webster's 
arguments  in  1830  arises  from  the  detiniteuess  and 
force  with  which  he  invested  popular  convictions 
which  as  yet  were  vague  and  ill -expressed — convic 
tions  which  "  went  on  broadening  and  deepening  until, 
thirty  years  afterward,  they  had  a  force  sufficient  to 
sustain  the  North  and  enable  her  to  triumph  in  the 
terrible  struggle  which  resulted  in  the  preservation  of 
national  lite." 1  In  the  judgment  of  an  able  student  of 
the  subject,  it  was  the  Second  Reply,  more  than  any 
other  single  event  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion  to  the  Civil  War,  which  "  compacted  the  states 
into  a  nation. "  2 
1  Lodge,  "  Webster,"  p.  179.  'MoCall,  "  Webster,"  p.  63. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON  :  NULLIFICATION 

THE  "Great  Debate"  commanded  the  attention  of 
the  country  as  had  few  events  since  1789.  The  more 
important  portions  of  the  various  speeches,  especially 
Webster's  Second  Reply,  were  reproduced  in  the 
newspapers,  and  large  numbers  of  copies  were  cir 
culated  in  various  pamphlet  editions.  Few  people  who 
were  able  or  disposed  in  any  measure  to  follow  public 
affairs  failed  to  read  more  or  less  of  what  had  been  said, 
and  the  more  inspiring  passages  began  to  be  declaimed, 
as  they  are  to  this  day,  by  schoolboys  in  thousands  of 
communities.  In  the  political  literature  of  the  counA 
try  the  Second  Reply  took  its  place  at  once  very  near/ 
the  top.  Webster  was  the  recipient  of  scores  of  letters 
of  congratulation,  some  from  intimate  friends,  some 
from  less-known  admirers,  some  from  total  strangers, 
some  even  from  political  opponents.  "  The  glorious 
effect  of  your  patriotic,  able,  and  eloquent  defense  of 
New  England,"  wrote  H.  A.  Dearborn,  "  and  the 
triumphant  support  you  have  given  to  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  the  Constitution  are  not  confined 
to  the  capital  of  the  Union.  The  aroma  comes  to 
gladden  our  hearts,  like  the  spicy  gales  of  Arabia  to 
the  distant  mariner.  Never  have  I  heard  such 
universal  and  ardent  expressions  of  joy  and  approba 
tion."1  "If  anything,"  wrote  Governor  Lincoln  of 
Massachusetts,  "  can  rouse  the  people  of  the  United 

1  H.  A.  Dearborn  to  Webster,   February  5,  1830.     Van  Tyne, 
"  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  147. 


226  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

States  to  a  sense  of  their  danger,  and  a  timely  protec 
tion  of  themselves  and  their  free  institutions,  it  must 
be  the  appeals  to  their  intelligence  and  virtue  which 
have  been  addressed  to  them  from  the  Senate  - 
chamber."  l  "  I  return  my  thanks,"  wrote  Madison, 
"  for  the  copy  of  your  late  very  powerful  speech  inth<i 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  crushes  <  nullification, ' 
and  must  hasten  an  abandonment  of  secession." u  "  •. 
congratulate  you,"  wrote  Clay,  "  on  the  very  great  ad 
dition  which  you  have  made  during  the  present  session 
to  your  previous  high  reputation.  Your  speeches,  and 
particularly  that  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne,  are  the  therm* 
of  praise  from  every  tongue  ;  and  I  have  shared  in  th« 
delight  which  all  have  felt.  I  trust  that  they  will  do 
much  good."3  Certain  men,  notably  Clay  and  Jack- 
sou,  might  continue  to  enjoy  a  measure  of  popularity 
with  the  masses  which  Webster  could  never  attain  ;  but. 
after  1830  no  public  personage  in  the  country  com 
manded  quite  such  a  measure  of  admiration  for  his 
patriotic  fervor  and  his  statesmanlike  abilities. 

The  sittings  of  Congress  during  the  spring  of  1830 
Webster  found,  as  in  truth  they  were,  largely  lacking  in 
interest.  There  was  discussion  of  the  tariff,  of  Indian 
affairs,  and  of  the  bank,  but  no  important  legislation. 
The  one  somewhat  startling  development  was  Jackson's 
veto,  May  27th,  of  a  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  of 
stock  by  the  United  States  in  the  Maysville,  Washing 
ton,  Paris,  and  Lexington  Turnpike  Eoad  Company. 
The  veto,  which  evinced  unmistakably  the  President's 

1  Lincoln   to   Webster,    March    17,    1830.     Curtis,   "Webster," 
Vol.  I,  p.  371. 

2  Madison  to  Webster,  March  15,  1830.     Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence, "  Vol.  I,  p.  496. 

3  Clay  to  Webster,  April  29,  1830.     Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  374. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          227 

opposition  to  national  outlays  upon  internal  improve 
ments,  furnished  occasion  for  an  acrimonious  debate  in 
the  House  ;  but  in  the  Senate  it  was  received  with 
equanimity.  "  I  never  felt  more  completely  weary  of 
a  session,"  Webster  confided  to  a  friend  ;  "  if  it  do  not 
terminate  soon,  I  shall  run  away  and  leave  it."  l  From 
various  quarters  of  the  country  the  thanks  and  con 
gratulations  of  old  and  new  admirers  continued  to  pour 
iu.  At  Boston  a  public  dinner  was  proposed,  al 
though  on  the  ground  that  numerous  Massachusetts 
representatives  in  Congress  had  rendered  service  so 
conspicuous  that  to  celebrate  the  home-corning  of  one 
of  the  number  would  be  invidious,  the  honor  was  de 
clined.2  An  enterprising  publisher  brought  out  a 
volume  of  the  senator's  speeches — a  book  upon  which 
Webster  passed  the  comment  that  it  was  "  well  enough 
except  the  awful  face,  which  seems  to  be  placed  in  the 
front  of  the  volume,  like  a  scarecrow  in  a  corn-field,  to 
frighten  off  all  intruders."  From  a  substantial 
citizen  of  Boston  came  a  service  of  plate  as  a  testimony 
of  "  gratitude  for  your  services  to  the  country,  in  your 
late  efforts  in  the  Senate,  especially  for  your  vindica 
tion  of  the  character  of  Massachusetts  and  of  New  Eng 
land."4  It  was  also  at  this  time  that,  at  the  sugges 
tion  of  friends,  Webster  began  the  composition  of  an 
autobiography.  The  task,  however,  was  soon  discon 
tinued,  and  the  resulting  sketch,  meagre  at  best, 
stopped  short  with  the  happenings  of  1816.  As  the 

1  Webster  to  Button,    May  9,  1830.     Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  502. 

2  Webster  to  William  Sullivan,  May  22,  1830.      Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  pp. 
502-503. 

3  Webster  to  C.  B.  Haddock.    February  6,  183,1.     Ibid.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  508. 

4  Amos  Lawrence  to  Webster,  October  23,  1830.     Ibid.,  Vol.  I, 
p.  507. 


328  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

pages  were  written  they  were  placed  in  the  possession 
of  George  Tickuor,  by  whom  they  were  preserved. 

During  the  late  summer  and  autumn  of  1830  Wet>- 
ster  participated  in  a  notable  prosecution  arising  from 
the  murder,  in  the  preceding  April,  of  Joseph  Whits, 
an  aged  and  wealthy  resident  of  Salem,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  engaged  to  assist  the  Attorney-General  and  the 
Solicitor-General,  and  largely  through  the  legal 
acumen  which  he  displayed  two  persons  of  the  nan  e 
of  Knapp  were  convicted  and  sent  to  the  gallows.  By 
the  attorneys  for  the  defense  it  was  charged  that  Web 
ster,  in  violation  of  statute,  was  receiving  compensa 
tion  from  a  private  source  ;  but  the  court  did  not  sus 
tain  the  objection.  The  Knapp  trials  demonstrated, 
among  other  things,  that  Webster's  skill  as  an  orator 
before  legislative  bodies  had  not  been  developed  at  the 
expense  of  his  power  to  argue  after  the  fakshion  de 
manded  by  courts  of  law.1 

Scarcely  was  Jackson  well  established  in  the  presi 
dential  office  before  the  political  leaders  began  to  plan 
toward  the  election  of  1832.  The  contest  of  1828  had 
hinged  primarily  upon  the  personal  issue  of  the  vindi 
cation  of  the  people's  choice  in  1824,  and  throughout 
the  era  of  Jacksonian  politics  the  element  of  personal 
leadership  and  personal  loyalty  never  ceased  to  be  of 
prime  importance.  During  the  years  of  Jackson's 
presidency,  however,  the  crystallization  of  political 
parties  which  had  set  in  after  the  election  of  1824 
proceeded  with  rapidity,  and  from  the  political  devel 
opments  of  this  period  sprang  the  two  great  parties- 
Democrat  and  Whig— which  throughout  the  remain 

1  Webster's  argument  iii  the  Knapp  case  is  printed  in  "  Works 
of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  41-105,  and  "Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  XI,  pp.  41-105. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          229 

ing  two  decades  covered  by  Webster's  lifetime  divided 
between  them  the  support  of  the  mass  of  the  nation. 
The  composition  of  the  Democratic  party  was  deter 
mined  upon  lines  that  were  simple  and  obvious.  The 
Democrats  originally  were  merely  the  adherents  of 
Jackson.  Their  basal  principles  were  the  rule  of  the 
people  and  a  moderately  strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  In  1828  the  first  of  these  meant  specifi 
cally  the  election  of  Jackson  j  the  second,  the  cessation 
of  internal  improvements  at  the  national  cost  and  a 
serious  questioning  of  the  validity  of  protective  tariffs 
and  of  the  maintenance  of  a  national  bank.  After  the 
accession  of  the  party  to  power  in  1829  both  were 
given  broader  and  varied  applications  as  public  devel 
opments  afforded  occasion. 

The  elements  which  stood  outside  of,  and  in  oppo 
sition  to,  the  Democratic  party  were  heterogeneous 
and  loosely  organized.  The  principal  tie  by  which 
they  were  held  in  some  sort  of  affiliation  was  a  com 
mon  opposition  to  Jackson  and  Jacksonianism,  and 
even  after,  in  1834,  the  several  anti-administration 
groups  became  outwardly  amalgamated  under  the 
general  designation  of  the  Whig  party,  the  interests 
which  they  possessed  in  common  consisted  always 
more  largely  of  political  antipathies  than  of  construct 
ive  policies.  In  1828,  and  during  the  ensuing  three 
or  four  years,  the  most  important  an ti- Jackson  group 
was  the  National  Republicans,  including,  in  the  main, 
the  "Adams  men"  of  the  period  1824-1828.  The 
principles  of  this  group  were  not  very  clearly  defined, 
but  in  general  they  were  based  upon  a  liberal  con 
struction  of  the  Constitution,  and  they  included  the 
advocacy  of  internal  improvements,  of  protectionism, 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  national  bank,  and  depre- 


230  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

cation  of  the  elevation  of  a  military  hero  to  the  presi 
dency.  Chief  among  the  prominent  members  of  th3 
group  in  popularity  and  in  capacity  for  leadership  was 
Henry  Clay. 

In  successive  messages  to  Congress  Jackson  recom 
mended  the  adoption  of  a  constitutional  amendment 
limiting  the  eligibility  of  the  p resident  to  a  single 
term  of  four  or  six  years.  The  suggestion  elicited 
however,  no  response,  and  when  the  President' ;< 
friends,  principally  the  members  of  his  "  kitchen 
cabinet,"  set  about  the  effecting  of  arrangements  for 
his  reelection  in  1832  he  did  not  feel  called  upon  tc 
discourage  them.  During  several  years  Calhouu  had 
been  considered,  and  certainly  had  considered  him 
self,  Jackson's  probable  successor.  In  1824,  and  again 
in  1828,  when  Calhoun  was  persuaded  to  content  him 
self  with  the  vice-presidency  it  was  commonly  sup 
posed  that  a  single  term  would  suffice  for  Jackson  and 
that  for  the  South  Carolinian  the  step  from  the  second 
position  to  the  first  would  be  easy  and  certain.  The 
Vice- President  at  no  time,  however,  enjoyed  the  un 
divided  support  of  his  party,  and  between  him  and 
Jackson  there  arose  a  breach  which  of  itself  was  suf 
ficient  completely  to  alter  the  tacitly  accepted  pro 
gramme.  During  the  spring  of  1830  Jackson  was 
made  aware  that  when,  in  1818,  he  stood  in  danger  of 
official  censure  in  consequence  of  his  arbitrary  manage 
ment  of  the  Florida  expedition,  it  was  Calhoun,  then 
secretary  of  war,  not  Adams,  the  secretary  of  state, 
who  had  urged  in  the  cabinet  that  some  penalty  be 
imposed.  Calhoun,  called  suddenly  to  account,  offered 
a  labored  explanation,  but  Jackson  refused  to  accept 
it,  and  a  bitterness  was  engendered  which  time  but 
partially  assuaged.  As  matters  stood,  without  the 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          231 

favor  of  Jackson  no  Democrat  might  hope  to  attain 
the  presidency  ;  and  not  only  did  Jackson  now  acquiesce 
in  the  plan  of  his  friends  for  a  second  term  for  himself; 
he  commenced  systematically  to  groom  Martin  Van 
Buren  for  the  succession  in  1836.  Calhoun's  chances, 
wrecked  at  least  temporarily  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
President's  favor,  were  annihilated  for  all  time  two 
years  later  in  consequence  of  the  collapse  of  nullifica 
tion.  It  is  of  interest  that  as  early  as  February,  1830, 
Webster  expressed  himself  as  "quite  sure"  that  it 
was  the  intention  of  Jackson  to  be  a  candidate  for  a 
second  term.1 

Among  the  National  Eepublicans  there  was  an  al 
most  universal  disposition  to  support  the  candidacy  of 
Clay.  From  1829  to  1831  Clay  was  in  private  life,  but 
his  popularity  continued  unimpaired,  and  from  one 
state  after  another  came  demand  that  he  be  agreed 
upon  as  the  party's  standard-bearer.  "As  to  future 
operations, ' '  wrote  Webster  from  Washington  in  March, 
1830,  "the  general  idea  here  seems  to  be  this:  to  bring 
forward  no  candidate  this  year,  though  doubtless  the 
general  impression  is  that  Mr.  Clay  stands  first  and 
foremost  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  would  desire  a 
change.  I  do  not  think  there  is  the  least  abatement 
of  the  respect  and  confidence  entertained  for  him." 
From  various  quarters  came  the  suggestion  that  Web 
ster  should  himself  be  a  candidate.  The  proposition 
\yas  contemplated  with  interest,  and  there  can  be  no 
question  that,  had  circumstances  shaped  themselves 
favorably,  the  Massachusetts  senator  would  have  been 
willing  to  accept  the  leadership  of  his  party  against 

1  Webster   to  Jeremiah   Mason,    February  27,  1830.     Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  488. 

2  Webster  to  Pleasants,  March  6,  1830.     Hid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  492. 


232  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

Jackson  in  1832.  It  must  be  observed,  however,  that 
he  was  ready  to  admit  the  superior  claims  of  Clay,  and 
that  at  no  time,  so  long  as  the  candidacy  of  the  Ken- 
tuckian  seemed  to  contain  the  largest  promise  of  party 
success,  did  he  withhold  from  Clay  his  cordial  suppor . 
The  temptation  to  enter  the  lists  immediately  w:  s 
enhanced  by  the  peculiarly  disturbed  political  situ;  - 
tion  arising  from  the  Autimasonic  movement.  Ant  - 
masonry  acquired  its  principal  strength  in  thoss 
portions  of  the  country  which  were  the  strongholds 
of  National  Republicanism,  i.  e..  New  York,  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  southern  New  England,  and  by  the  Natioua  I 
Republican  leaders  the  spread  of  the  movement  was 
viewed  with  unfeigned  apprehension.  Webster's  let 
ters  during  the  years  1830  and  1831  abound  in  allu 
sions  to  the  uncertainties  injected  into  the  political 
situation  by  the  new  propaganda.  It  was  hoped  thai 
the  An ti masons  might  be  influenced  to  combine  with 
the  National  Republicans  in  the  support  of  Clay.  But 
Clay  was  a  Mason,  and  the  Autimasonic  leaders  let  it 
be  understood  that  he  could  never  be  accorded  their 
support ;  that,  indeed,  on  the  contrary,  they  proposed 
to  hold  a  national  convention  at  Baltimore  to  frame  a 
platform  and  to  nominate  candidates  of  their  own. 

In  this  juncture  many  persons  bent  upon  compassing 
the  overthrow  of  Jackson  besought  Webster  to  an 
nounce  himself  a  candidate.  Webster  was  not  a  Mason, 
and  the  thought  of  those  who  approached  him  upon  the 
subject  was  that  National  Republicans  and  Antimasons 
might  well  unite  in  the  support  of  him  as  they  were 
certain  not  to  be  able  to  do  in  the  support  of  Clay.  It 
was  represented,  as  Webster  himself  believed,  that  if 
the  Antimasonic  movement  should  make  further  in 
roads  upon  the  National  Republican  ranks  the  election 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          233 

of  Clay  would  be  rendered  totally  impossible  and  his 
candidacy  useless.  To  the  appeals  which  poured  in 
upon  him,  however,  Webster  turned  a  deaf  ear.  He 
recognized  that  Clay  had  been,  and  still  was,  the  leader 
of  the  party  ;  that  large  numbers  of  his  adherents  were 
so  attached  to  him  that  they  were  certain  to  be  offended 
by  the  displacement  of  their  favorite  by  any  other  can 
didate  ;  and  that  Clay  himself  expected  the  support  of 
his  party  and  confidently  believed  that  he  could  be 
elected.  Moreover,  with  the  Antimasonic  movement 
Webster  had  little  sympathy.  He  regarded  secret 
orders  as  of  doubtful  utility,  but  he  deprecated  the  dis 
placement  of  fundamental  political  issues  by  issues 
which  were  both  ephemeral  and  essentially  non-polit 
ical.  The  upshot  was  that  he  not  only  refrained  from, 
taking  the  step  which  his  friends  advised  but  made  it 
clear  that,  for  the  time,  at  least,  his  support  would  be 
thrown  to  Clay.  Firmly  lodged  in  his  mind  was  the 
purpose  one  day  to  be  an  active  candidate  ;  but  every 
consideration  of  prudence  and  of  honor  dictated  post 
ponement  of  that  day.  From  Joseph  Gales,  serfior  ed 
itor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  came  sentiments  which, 
reechoed  in  communications  received  from  other 
friends,  rendered  easier  the  decision.  "Of  all  men  (I 
can  say  in  writing  what  I  would  not  to  your  face)  I 
should  prefer  you  to  any  other  for  the  presidency.  I 
hope  in  God  the  time  will  come  which  will  give  to  that 
station  *  one  Eoman  more. '  At  present  Mr.  Clay  is  so 
prominently  before  the  public,  and  so  identified  with 
Western  feeling  (as  you  will  find  him),  and,  through 
you  and  other  friends,  so  acceptable  to  the  East,  and 
so  qualified  by  experience,  and  so  allied,  and  as  it 
were,  endeared  by  late  associations,  that  we  must  go 
for  him  if  we  go  alone.  I,  for  one,  cannot  bear  the  idea 


234  DANIEL  WEBJ3TEK 

of  aiiy  other  being  thought  of  by  those  who  approve 
his  politics."  l 

The  numerous  and  urgent  personal  and  social  invi 
tations  with  which  Webster  was  deluged  during  the 
winter  of  1830-1831  testified  both  to  the  breadth  of  his 
ianie  and  the  respect  which  his  countrymen  entertained 
for  him.  The  most  important  of  the  functions  which 
he  consented  to  attend  was  a  public  dinner  given  in  his 
honor  March  10,  1831,  at  the  City  Hotel  in  New  York. 
The  dinner  was  intended  primarily  to  afford  the  citi 
zens  of  the  metropolis  an  opportunity  to  express  their 
appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  the  country  by 
the  Massachusetts  senator  in  the  debate  with  Hayne 
during  the  previous  year.  Chancellor  Kent,  who  pre 
sided,  voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  gathering  in  a  tem 
perate  but  eloquent  appreciation,  and  Webster  himself 
spoke  an  hour  and  a  half  upon  lines  suggested  espe 
cially  by  the  current  issue  of  nullification  in  South 
Carolina.  Carefully  eschewing  party  politics  and 
avoiding  even  the  appearance  of  an  attack  upon  the 
Administration,  he  paid  eloquent  tribute  to  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution,  portrayed  the  progress  achieved  by 
the  various  portions  of  the  country  under  the  operation 
of  the  instrument,  laid  emphasis  upon  the  vagaries  and 
the  dangers  of  nullification,  and  admonished  the  nation 
that  doctrines  subversive  of  the  Union,  although  in 
disrepute,  were  still  to  be  guarded  against  with  cease 
less  vigilance.  In  appropriateness  to  the  occasion  and 
loftiness  of  sentiment  the  effort  has  hardly  been  sur 
passed  in  the  history  of  American  after-dinner  oratory.* 
A  visit  to  the  West  which  had  long  been  in  contempla- 

1  Joseph  Gales  to  Webster,  March 27,  1831.  Curtis,  "Webster," 
Vol.  I,  p.  398. 

"The  speech  is  printed  in  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  195- 
215,  and  in  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  45-65. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          235 

tion  was  at  this  time  definitely  deferred.  Invitations 
from  Western  men  and  organizations  were  flattering,  and 
Webster  greatly  desired  to  see  the  newer  portions  of 
the  country  ;  but  a  Western  trip  at  this  juncture  was 
decided  to  be  politically  inexpedient.  It  was  too  likely 
to  be  construed  unfavorably  by  the  friends  of  Clay. 

As  the  year  1831  advanced  preparations  for  the  cam 
paign  of  1832  were  pushed  with  vigor,  especially  by 
the  Anti- Jacksonians.  On  September  26th  there  as 
sembled  at  Baltimore  a  national  nominating  conven 
tion  of  the  Antirnasonic  party,  called  under  authority 
of  a  gathering  of  Antimasous  at  Philadelphia  a  twelve 
month  previously.  Prior  to  the  Baltimore  meeting  the 
leaders  of  the  Antirnasonic  movement  avowed  an  in 
tention  to  place  in  the  field  a  candidate  who  should  be 
able  to  muster  the  strength  of  all  opponents  of  the  Ad 
ministration.  There  was  no  such  person  ;  but  in  any 
case  the  performance  fell  further  short  of  the  promise 
than  was  necessary.  Clay  might  as  well  have  been 
named  ;  for  the  nominee  of  the  convention  was  William 
Wirt,  who,  like  Clay,  was  a  Mason,  and  who,  in  his 
speech  of  acceptance,  felt  obliged  to  confess  that  he 
had  never  seen  any  harm  in  the  order.  But  Clay  was 
deliberately  passed  over,  and  the  chances  of  a  National 
Republican  victory  were  correspondingly  diminished. 
Webster  was  among  those  who  urged  most  forcefully 
that  the  issue  of  Antimasoury  was  too  petty  to  be 
made  the  foundation  of  a  political  party  and  that  the 
National  Republicans  ought  not  to  go  out  of  their  way 
for  the  sake  of  arriving  at  harmony  with  the  disaffected 
elements.  Yet  there  is  testimony  that,  following  the 
Antimasonic  convention,  he  was  not  without  hope  that 
the  nomination  of  his  party  might  be  diverted  to  him 
self.  He  was  convinced  that  the  nomination  of  Clay 


236  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

would  mean  inevitably  the  reelection  of  Jackson,  be 
cause  under  no  circumstances  might  the  Antimasons 
be  expected  to  give  Clay  their  support ;  but  with  him 
self,  a  non-Mason,  as  a  candidate,  he  believed  the  chance 
of  party  unification  and  victory  would  be  at  least  fair. 
The  members  of  the  party,  however,  regarded  Clay  as 
their  natural  leader,  and  even  Webster's  more  intimate 
friends  were  obliged  to  persuade  him  afresh  that  his 
hour  had  not  yet  come. 

At  the  convention  of  the  National  Bepublicans,  as 
sembled  at  Baltimore  December  12,  1831,  Clay  was 
nominated  unanimously,  and  with  him,  for  vice-presi 
dent,  John  Sergeant  of  Pennsylvania.  On  recom 
mendation  of  this  convention  a  national  assemblage  of 
young  men  met  in  Washington  in  May,  1832,  and, 
after  accepting  the  nominations  that  had  been  made, 
drew  up  and  adopted  the  first  party  platform  ever  pro 
mulgated  by  an  American  national  convention.  To 
Judge  Spencer,  of  New  York,  Webster  wrote  pessimis 
tically  as  follows,  a  month  prior  to  Clay's  nomination  : 
"I  believe  Mr.  Wirt's  nomination  has  secured  Gen 
eral  Jackson's  reelection  !  I  believe  he  cannot  take  a 
vote  from  General  Jackson,  but  may  take  a  few  from 
Mr.  Clay,  that  is,  the  Vermont  votes  ;  but  a  greater 
evil  resulting  from  his  nomination  is  that  it  greatly 
discouraged  those  who  were  desirous  of  producing  a 
change  in  the  General  Administration,  and  greatly  en 
couraged  the  friends  of  the  present  president.  I  hope, 
indeed,  for  a  different  result,  but  I  do  not  expect  it. 
It  is  true,  the  events  of  the  session  may  produce  new 
aspects  of  things  and  I  am  willing  to  anticipate  the 
best. " l  In  the  decision  that  Clay  must  be  the  nominee 

1  Webster  to  Ambrose  Spencer,  November  16,  1831.     Van  Tyne, 
"  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  168. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          237 

Webster  acquiesced,  at  the  last,  good-naturedly. 
Passing  through  Baltimore  on  his  way  to  Washington 
at  the  time  when  the  convention  was  sitting,  he  watched 
the  proceedings  throughout  a  day  with  interest ;  and 
after  the  body  had  completed  its  task  and  many  of  the 
members  had  repaired  to  the  capital,  Webster  and  a 
Massachusetts  congressman,  Nathan  Appleton,  invited 
a  distinguished  company  to  meet  the  nominee  at 
dinner. 

The  conjecture  that  by  the  "  events  of  the  session  M 
some  new  aspects  of  things  might  be  produced  proved 
well-founded.  The  session,  extending  from  December, 
1831,  to  July,  1832,  was,  indeed,  one  of  rare  impor 
tance.  Its  developments  precipitated  relentless  and 
deadly  war  between  Andrew  Jackson  and  the  anti- 
administration  forces  ;  and,  although  they  did  not 
endanger  the  reelection  of  the  President,  they  con 
tributed  enormously  to  the  welding  of  the  discordant 
elements  of  the  opposition  into  a  substantial  organiza 
tion — the  Whig  party  of  later  years — destined  one  day 
to  bring  the  Jacksonian  democracy  to  overwhelming 
defeat.  Several  important  subjects  came  up  for  con 
sideration,  but  the  history  of  the  session  centres  largely 
about  the  contest  upon  the  proposed  rechartering  of  the 
United  States  Bank. 

The  second  bank  of  the  United  States  was  chartered 
for  a  period  of  twenty  years  by  an  act  of  April  10, 
1816.  In  its  earlier  days  the  institution  was  unsuccess 
ful,  but  under  the  presidency  of  Laugdon  Cheves 
(1819-1823)  it  got  upon  its  feet  and  became  a  powerful 
and  prosperous  financial  organization.  The  efforts  of 
certain  states  to  tax  out  of  existence  the  branches 
which  were  established  within  their  borders  were  cir 
cumvented,  and  in  the  great  case  of  McCulloch  vs. 


238  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

Maryland  the  constitutionality  of  the  establishment  oi 
both  the  Bank  and  its  branches  was  upheld  at  every 
point  by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  laud.  For  a 
variety  of  reasons,  however,  the  Bank  continued  to  be 
unpopular,  especially  in  the  South  and  West.  At  his 
accession  to  the  presidency  Jackson  was  not  clearly  on 
record  in  respect  to  the  Bank,  although  there  had  been 
some  indication  that  his  attitude  was  not  favorable. 
In  the  inaugural  address  the  subject  was  passed  with 
out  mention.  In  the  first  message  to  Congress,  how 
ever,  both  the  constitutionality  and  the  expediency  of 
the  Bank  were  called  in  question,  and  in  the  message 
of  December  7, 1830,  there  was  recommended  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  central  fiscal  institution  of  a  wholly  dif 
ferent  type.  In  the  message  of  December  6,  1831,  the 
subject  was  committed  to  "  the  investigation  of  an  en 
lightened  people  and  their  representatives."  Late  in 
1831  the  unfriendly  position  which  the  President  had 
assumed  brought  the  authorities  of  the  Bank,  princi 
pally  the  president,  Nicholas  Biddle,  to  a  decision  to 
procure  with  the  least  possible  delay  a  charter  pro 
longing  the  life  of  the  institution.  Application  for  a 
new  charter  was  presented  to  Congress  January  9, 
1832,  and  March  13th  a  bill  framed  in  accordance  with 
the  application  was  reported  from  a  select  committee 
in  the  Senate  by  Dallas  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  BankJBitt  was  taken  up  in  the  Senate  May  22d 
and  was  debated  in  detail  until  June  llth,  when  it  was 
passed  by  a  vote  of  twenty-eight  to  twenty.  In  the 
House  of  Representatives  a  bill  on  the  subject,  reported 
February  10th,  was  displaced  by  the  Senate  bill,  which 
was  adopted,  July  3d,  by  a  vote  of  107  to  80.  The 
handling  of  the  measure  in  the  upper  chamber  wan 
managed  principally  by  Webster.  Although  not  one 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          239 

of  those  who  urged  the  pressing  of  the  issue  at  so  early 
a  date,  Webster  believed  that,  since  the  future  of  the 
Bank  had  been  brought  in  question,  action  ought  to  be 
taken  which  should  render  the  perpetuity  of  the  in 
stitution  certain.  On  May  25th  he  spoke  at  some 
length  in  advocacy  of  the  bill,  dwelling  rather  more 
upon  the  aspect  of  expediency  than  upon  that  of  con 
stitutionality,  because  the  real  extent  of  the  constitu 
tional  objections  that  would  have  to  be  encountered 
was  as  yet  unknown  ;  and  three  days  later  he  opposed 
successfully  an  amendment  in  accordance  with  which 
branches  of  the  Bank,  established  only  with  the  con 
sent  of  the  states  in  which  they  were  located,  should  be 
subject  to  state  taxation  in  like  manner  as  other  banks.1 
The  substance  of  Webster's  contention  was  that 
Bank,  during  its  sixteen  years  of  existence,  had  as 
sisted  in  the  maintenance  of  a  sound  and  uniform  cur 
rency,  had  facilitated  the  collection  and  disbursement 
of  the  public  revenue,  had  imparted  stability  to  the 
rates  of  foreign  exchanges,  had  promoted  the  interests  , 
of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures — in  short, 
had  "  sought  the  accomplishment  of  the  public  pur 
poses  designed  by  its  institution  with  distinguished 
ability  and  distinguished  success.'7 

The  message  with  which  the  President  accompanied 
his  veto  of  the  Bank  Bill,  July  10th,  was  a  curious 
compound  of  fiscal  and  constitutional  absurdities. 
The  veto  itself  was  not  unexpected,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  approved  by  a  majority  of 
the  people.  The  Jacksonian  contention  that  the  Bank 
wielded  a  dangerous  monopoly  and  that  the  ownership 
of  a  portion  of  the  stock  of  the  institution  abroad  con- 

1  These  speeches  are  printed  in  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  391-415,  and  in  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  124-148. 


t 


240  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

stituted  a  national  menace  struck  Louie  among  a  peo 
ple  accustomed  at  the  merest  mention  of  a  "money 
power"  to  scent  danger.  The  most  startling  aspect  of 
the  veto  was  the  argument  employed  by  Jackson  to 
the  effect  that,  although  the  constitutionality  of  tie 
Bank  had  been  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court,  it  w«?s 
none  the  less  within  the  sphere  of  competency  of  tie 
chief  executive  to  regard  the  creation  of  the  institution 
as  unconstitutional  and  to  refuse  to  be  influenced  i  a 
his  attitude  or  policy  by  the  opinion  of  a  coordinate 
branch  of  the  government.  "The  Congress,  the  Ex 
ecutive,  and  the  Court,"  it  was  declared,  "must  each 
for  itself  be  guided  by  its  own  opinion  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  Each  public  officer  who  takes  a  public  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution  swears  that  he  will  support  it 
as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it  is  understood  by 
others.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  President,  to  de 
cide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or  resolution 
which  may  be  presented  to  them  for  passage  or  ap 
proval  as  it  is  of  the  Supreme  Judges  when  it  may  be 
brought  before  them  for  judicial  decision.  The  opinion 
of  the  judges  has  no  more  authority  over  Congress 
than  the  opinion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges  ;  and, 
on  that  point,  the  President  is  independent  of  both.''  l 
The  position  which  Jackson  thus  assumed,  subver 
sive  as  it  was  of  all  rational  principles  of  constitutional 
law,  was  essentially  untenable,  and  the  mass  of  his 
fellow-partisans  had  the  good  sense  in  after  years  not 
to  endeavor  to  maintain  it.  To  Webster  it  fell  to  ex 
pose  the  fallacies  involved  in  it,  and  the  task  was  per 
formed  in  a  cogent  speech  delivered  in  the  Senate  on 

1  Richardson,  "  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  PresideDfcs,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  582. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          241 

the  day  following  the  receipt  of  the  veto  message, 
when  a  second  vote  upon  the  measure  was  pending. 
With  characteristic  moderateness  of  tone,  but  with  de 
termination  born  of  clear  thinking  and  deep  convic 
tion,  he  demolishedjsompletely  the  President's  remark  - 
able  doctrine!  He  showed  that  while  the  Executive  is, 
and  must  be,  privileged__to  entertain  an  independent 
opinionupon  the  constitutionality  of  a  measure  or  an 
insti tut faiT  whose  validity  has  not  been  passed  upon 
by  the  courts,  and  to  govern  his  actions  accordingly, 
in  the  case  of  measures  or  agencies  whose  constitution 
ality  has  been  affirmed  by  _  jhe  highest  tribunal  of  the 
lanJneithei^the  Executiyenor  any  Bother  department  of 
the  government  possesses  the  power  to  proceed  in  ac 
cordance  withj»  _f.flnfrnry  npininn  Otherwise,  as  was 
easy  enough  to  demonstrate,  a  principal  function  of 
the  Supreme  Court  would  be  reduced  to  a  nullity  and 
the  one  means  of  constitutional  interpretation  and  ad 
justment  upon  which  the  stability  of  the  governmental 
system  depends  would  be  swept  away. 

"When  a  law,7'  it  was  declared,  "  has  been  passed 
by  Congress  and  approved  by  the  President,  it  is  now 
no  longer  in  the  power,  either  of  the  same  president, 
or  of  his  successors,  to  say  whether  the  law  is  constitu 
tional  or  not.  He  is  not  at  liberty  to  disregard  it ;  he 
is  not  at  liberty  to  feel  or  to  affect  '  constitutional 
scruples,'  and  to  sit  in  judgment  himself  on  the  valid 
ity  of  a  statute  of  the  government,  and  to  nullify  it, 
if  he  so  chooses.  After  a  law  has  passed  through  all 
the  requisite  forms  ;  after  it  has  received  the  requisite 
legislative  sanction  and  the  executive  approval,  the 
question  of  its  constitutionality  then  becomes  a  judicial 
question,  and  a  judicial  question  alone.  In  the  courts 
that  question  may  be  raised,  argued,  and  adjudged  ;  it 


242  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

can  be  adjudged  nowhere  else.  .  .  .  It  is  to  be  re 
membered,  sir,  that  it  is  the  present  law,  it  is  the  act  of 
1816,  it  is  the  present  charter  of  the  bank,  which  th3 
President  pronounces  to  be  unconstitutional.  It  is  no 
bank  to  be  created,  it  is  no  l&w  proposed  to  be  passed, 
which  he  denounces  ;  it  is  the  law  now  existing,  passed 
by  Congress,  approved  by  President  Madison,  and  sanc 
tioned  by  a  solemn  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  he  now  declares  unconstitutional,  and  which,  of 
course,  so  far  as  it  may  depend  on  him,  cannot  be  exe 
cuted.  If  these  opinions  of  the  President  be  maintained, 
there  is  an  end  of  all  law  and  all  judicial  authority. 
Statutes  are  but  recommendations,  judgments  no  more 
than  opinions.  Both  are  equally  destitute  of  binding 
force.  Such  a  universal  power  as  is  now  claimed  for  him, 
a  power  of  judging  over  the  laws  and  over  the  decisions 
of  the  judiciary,  is  nothing  else  but  pure  despotism." 

Of  the  essential  soundness  of  this  argument  there  can 
be  no  question,  and  it  niay_be  observed  that  the  fun 
damental  task  of  Webster  throughout  his  public  career 
wasf  more  than  any  other  one  thing,  to  enforce  upon 
the  American  people  jm  adeojmte  appreciation  of  the 
proper  functiou_of  the  judiciary  inj^jnaiiitenance  of 
the  constitutional  system.  This  had  been  the  essential 
coiitrTbution^of  the^debate  with  Hayne,  and  the  mes 
sage  was  reiterated  with  con vi nci ngfeffect  in  the  speech 
on  the  Bajjk__veto.  The  attempt  which  was  made  to 
carry  the  Bank  Bill  over  the  veto  failed,  and  the  Bank 
prepared  to  wind  up  its  affairs.  But  in  consequence 
of  the  controversy  the  unification  of  the  coming  Whig 
party  was  promoted  and  the  breach  between  Jackson 
and  the  opposition  was  further  widened.1 

1  For  the  speech  of  July  llth  see  "  Works  of  Webster/'  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  416-447,  and  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  149-180. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          243 

The  speech  on  the  President's  veto  of  the  Bank  Bill 
was  Webster's  most  notable  effort  during  the  session. 
Other  subjects,  however,  received  at  this  time  his  close 
attention.  One  was  the  action  of  the  Senate  on  the 
nomination  of  Van  Buren  as  minister  to  Great  Britain. 
In  April,  1831,  Van  Bureu,  now  popularly  regarded  as 
a  candidate  for  the  vice-presidency,  aud,  prospective! y, 
for  the  presidency  itself,  resigned  the  secretaryship  of 
state,  and  shortly  thereafter  he  was  appointed  minister 
to  the  court  of  St.  James.  He  went  abroad  and  was 
received  by  the  government  to  which  he  was  accredited. 
When,  however,  his  nomination  came  up  for  endorse 
ment  by  the  Senate,  a  large  number  of  members  de 
murred,  and,  in  the  end,  confirmation  of  the  appoint 
ment  was  refused,  on  the  ground  principally  that  in 
1829  Van  Buren,  in  the  capacity  of  secretary  of  state, 
had  communicated  to  McLane,  then  going  to  London 
as  American  minister,  instructions  which  cast  reflec 
tions  upon  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 
In  the  course  of  a  series  of  remarks  made  in  secret  ses 
sion,  January  24  and  26,  1832,  Webster  explained 
forcefully  his  reasons  for  voting  to  reject  the  Presi 
dent's  nomination.1  The  essential  reason  was  that,  in 
his  judgment,  Van  Buren  had  been  sent  abroad  as 
"the  representative  of  his  party  and  not  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  his  country."  The  subject  was  admitted 
to  be  a  delicate  one  and  in  speaking  upon  it  Webster 
avowed  that  he  had  performed  the  most  unpleasant 
act  of  his  public  life — an  act,  however,  which,  involv 
ing  a  solemn  public  duty,  might  not  be  shunned. 
There  can  be  little  question  that  Webster  was  im 
pelled  by  an  honest  belief  that,  under  the  circum- 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  356-368;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  89-101. 


344  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

stances,  Van  Buren  was  not  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  nation,  but  it  is  certain  enough  that  many  of 
those  who  voted  for  the  recall  of  the  former  secretary 
were  actuated  by  motives  which  were  frankly  partisan. 
The  vote  was  so  arranged  that  there  was  a  tie  (twenty- 
three  to  twenty-three),  to  the  end  that  Vice-President 
Calhoun  might  have  the  satisfaction,  by  employment 
of  the  casting  vote,  of  compassing  the  humiliation  of 
the  rival  by  whom  he  had  been  displaced.  "It  will 
kill  him,  sir,"  declared  the  South  Carolinian  to  a  friend, 
"  kill  him  dead.  He  will  never  kick,  sir,  never  kick." 
In  point  of  fact,  the  consequence  was  far  otherwise.  No 
/  other  single  circumstance  contributed  so  heavily  to  es 
I  tablish  Van  Buren  in  the  favor  of  the  Jackson  party 
\  and  to  smooth  for  him  the  road  to  the  presidency. 
^The  activities  of  Webster  during  the  session  in- 
/  eluded  a  careful  study  of  the  questions  involved  in  the 
apportionment  of  representatives  in  the  lower  brancli 
\  of  Congress.  To  effect  the  reapportionment  which  wah 
due  on  the  basis  of  the  results  of  the  fifth  census,  -,\ 
bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
providing  that  representatives  should  be  allotted  to  the 
several  states  in  the  ratio  of  one  for  every  47.700  in 
habitants.  As  upon  earlier  occasions  of  the  kind,  no 
provision  was  made  for  the  representation  of  fractional 
remainders,  and  considerable  numbers  of  people  in  the 
aggregate  would  find  themselves,  if  not  strictly  unrep 
resented,  at  least  devoid  of  proportionate  power  in  the 
national  legislative  body.  On  March  27,  1832,  the 
House  bill  was  referred  in  the  Senate  to  a  select  com 
mittee,  and  on  April  5th  Webster  presented,  in  the 
name  of  this  committee,  a  carefully  considered  report  in 
which  it  was  urged  that  the  proposed  measure  should 
be  so  amended  as  to  make  provision  for  the  representa 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          245 

tion  of  major  fractious.1  "Let  the  rule  be,"  it  was 
advocated,  "  that  the  whole  number  of  the  proposed 
House  shall  be  apportioned  ainoug  the  several  states 
according  to  their  respective  numbers,  giving  to  each 
state  that  number  of  members  which  conies  nearest  to 
her  exact  mathematical  part  or  proportion."  Not 
withstanding  the  cogency  of  the  arguments  which  were 
employed  in  behalf  of  this  procedure,  Congress  could 
not  be  brought  upon  this  occasion,  nor  indeed  upon 
that  of  the  next  decennial  apportionment,  to  apply  the 
reasonable  and  obvious  remedy.  By  act  of  May  23, 
1850,  however,  the  principles  urged  by  Webster's  com 
mittee  were  enacted  into  law,  and  they  have  since  been 
adhered  to  without  variation. 

In  May,  1832,  a  Democratic  convention  at  Baltimore 
"  cordially  concurred  "  in  the  nomination  which  Jack 
son  had  already  received  at  the  hands  of  sundry  legis 
latures  and  mass- meetings  and  complied  with  the  well 
understood  wishes  of  the  President  by  placing  Van 
Buren  in  nomination  for  the  vice-presidency.  No 
platform  was  promulgated.  None  was  needed.  The 
Administration  went  before  the  country  solely  upon  its 
record.  The  election  in  November  resulted  in  a 
decisive  Democratic  triumph.  Jackson  received  two 
hundred  and  nineteen  electoral  votes,  Clay  forty-nine, 
John  Floyd  eleven,2  and  Wirt  seven.  The  popular 
vote  for  Jackson  was  687,502  ;  that  for  Clay  and  Wirt 
combined  was  but  530,189.  The  real  object  of  the 
Democratic  gathering  at  Baltimore  had  been  to  unite 
the  party  in  the  support  of  Van  Buren  for  the  vice- 
presidency,  and  an  important  result  of  the  election  was 

1  For  the  text  of  this  report  see  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  369-390,  and  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  102-123. 
*  These  votes  were  cast  by  the  electors  of  South  Carolina. 


246  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

to  place  "the  Little  Magician  "  definitely  in  line  of 
succession  to  the  higher  post. 

Meanwhile  the  crisisjwhich  long  had  been  threatened 
by  the  tariff  controversy  hajl_j^en_j)recipitated.  In 
his  annual  message  of  December  6,  1831,  Jackson 
urged  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  and  during  the  session 
which  ensued  a  number  of  tariff  bills  were  introduced, 
exhibiting,  however,  no  appreciable  consensus  of  inter 
est  or  of  policy.  In  the  end  a  tariff  measure  was 
enacted,  that  of  July  14,  1832 ;  but  the  lowering  oi 
rates  for  which  it  made_pro vision  did  not  involve,  and 
was" not  Intended  to  involve,  any  essential  modification 
of  the"prdtective Tsystem^TThereaTter  thejiullification 
party^lir~SQuni"'"Carolina  fast  gained  the  ascendancy. 
The  state's  representatives  in  Congress  expressed  the 
solemn  conviction  that  all  hope  of  relief  at  the  hands 
of  Congress  had  disappeared  and  recommended  that 
independent  action  be  no  longer  delayed.  Late  in 
October  the  legislature  was  assembled,  and  by  heavy 
majorities  it  passed  a  measure  providing  for  a  conven 
tion,  which  met  at  Columbia  November  19th.  By  a. 
vote  of  136  to  26  the  convention,  November  24th, 
adopted  ajij)rdinan^e_j^cjiiri]iig  thejariff  acts  of  1828 
and  1832  "null,  void,  andno_jaw  "7"and  three  days 
later  the~TegisiaTure  reassembleSf  for  the  purpose  of  tak 
ing  such  steps  as  should  be  deemed  necessary  to  main 
tain  the  position  which  had  been  assumed.  The  date 
fixed  for  the  taking  effect  of  the  ordinance  was  Febru 
ary  1,  1833. 

In  the  face  of  this  unprecedented  situation  the  atti 
tude  of  the  Administration  was  unhesitatingly  firm. 
In  a  message  of  December  4th  the  President  again  rec 
ommended  the  readjustment  of  the  tariff,  but  six  days 
later  there  was  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  people  of 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          247 

South  Carolina  in  \fhich  the  right  of  nullification  was 
specifically  denied  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  disaftected 
state  were  admonished  to  retrace  the  revolutionary  steps 
which  had  been  taken.  "I  consider,"  affirmed  the 
President,  "the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United 
States,  assumed  by  one  state,  incompatiblejwith  the 
existence  of  the  Union,  contradicted  expressly  by  the 
letteiToTlEe^Constitution,  unauthorized  by  its  spirit, 
inconsistent  with  every  principle  on  which  it  was 
founded,  and  destructive  of  the  great  object  for  which 
it  was  iorined."  l  The  proclamation  of  December  10th 
takes  rank  as  the  ablest  state  paper  of  the  Jacksouian 
era.  With  the  preparation  of  it  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Edward  Livingston,  is  known  to  have  had  much  to  do, 
but  the  credit  for  the  bold  stand  taken  by  the  Admin 
istration  belongs,  of  course,  to  Jackson.  The  constitu 
tional  law  upon  which  the  proclamation  was  based  was 
identical  with  that  expounded  by  Webster  in  the  great 
debate  of  1830,  and  it  was  made  as  plain  as  words  could 
make  it  that  the  authority  of  the  federal  government 
would  be  enforced  by  means  which,  if  need  be,  would 
not  stop  short  of  the  use  of  arms.  When  the  South 
Carolina  legislature  replied  to  the  proclamation  in  a 
tone  that  was  deemed  derogatory,  Jackson  was  more 
than  ever  aroused,  and  there  was  no  guarantee  that  his 
repressive  measures  might  not  include  even  capital 
punishment  of  the  South  Carolina  leaders.  And  the 
chief  of  these  leaders  was  Calhouu,  once  vice-president, 
but  after  his  resignation  of  that  post  spokesman  of  the 
recalcitrant  state  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate.2 

1  Richardson,  "  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  643. 

3  Hayne  was  inaugurated  governor  of  South  Carolina  December 
13,  1832.  Two  weeks  later  Calhoun  resigned  the  vice-presidency 
and  took  Hayne's  seat  in  the  Senate. 


248  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

At  the  dinner  given  in  his  honor  in  New  York,  in 
March,  1831,  Webster^  had  warned  his  hearers^  that, 
contrary  to  the  assumption  of  some  people,  the  menace 
of  noTIISc^non~w^~l^Qt  terminated.  Throughout  en 
suing  months  he  watched  the  situation  with  growing 
anxiety.  With  the  tariff  proceedings  of  1832  he  had 
little  to  do,  but  he  opposed  every  proposal  which  con 
templated  an  abandonment  of  the  protective  principle. 
On  October  12,  1832,  he  delivered  at  the  state  conven 
tion  of  the  National  Republicans  of  Massachusetts, 
held  at  Worcester,  a  lengthy  speech  reviewing  the 
existing  situation  and  arraigning  the  Administration 
for  its  alleged  shortcomings.  The  burden  of  the  ar 
gument  was  that  the  principles  and  measures  of  the 
Administration  were  "  dangerous  to  the  Constitution 
and  to  the  union  of  states/'  in  respect  to  removals 
from  office,  the  use  of  the  veto,  hostility  to  internal 
improvements,  and  tolerance  of  the  defiance  which  in 
the  state  of  Georgia  had  been  exhibited  toward  certain 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  was  contended, 
furthermore,  that  the  President  had  not  shown  himself 
clearly  to  be  ready  to  lead  the  country  in  resistance 
to  nullification  and  that,  in  the  event  of  a  crisis,  the 
course  which  the  Administration  would  be  most  likely 
to  pursue  would  be  objectionable  and  dangerous.  The 
judgment  which  Webster  visited  upon  the  President  in 
the  last-mentioned  matter  was  clearly  premature,  and 
within  four  months  the  senator  was  destined  to  find 
himself  in  the  curious  position  of  one  fighting  to  up 
hold  the  policies  of  the  President  against  the  opposi 
tion  of  not  a  few  of  Jackson's  accustomed  supporters 
and  fellow- partisans.1 

1  The  text  of  the  Worcester  speech  is  in  ' '  Works  of  Webster, ' '  Vol.  I, 
pp.  237-278,  and  in  "Writings  and  Speeches, "  Vol.  II,  pp.  87-128. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          249 

The  nullification  episode  stirred  the  feelings  of 
Webster  profoundly.  During  the  autumn  of  1832 
Calhoun  published  a  fresh  defense  of  nullification,  in 
the  form  of  a  letter  to  Governor  Hamilton— a  defense 
which  Webster  pronounced  "  far  the  ablest  and  most 
plausible,  and  therefore  the  most  dangerous,  vindica 
tion  of  that  particular  form  of  revolution  which  has  yet 
appeared. "  Webster's  first  thought  was  to  make  a 
written  reply,  and,  October  29th,  he  addressed  to 
Chancellor  Kent  an  inquiry  as  to  whether  he  might  be 
permitted  to  cast  the  reply  in  the  form  of  an  answer  to 
a  supposititious  letter  from  that  eminent  jurist.1  Im 
pressed  that  the  crisis  was  u  indeed  portentous  and 
frightful,"  Kent  extended  the  desired  permission  ;  but 
when  it  became  known  that,  having  resigned  the  vice- 
presidency,  Calhoun  was  to  reappear  in  Congress  as 
senator  from  South  Carolina,  Webster  decided  that 
the  subject  would  better  be  threshed  out  in  oral  debate 
within  the  legislative  chamber. 

On  January  16,  1833,  the  President  transmitted  to 
Congress  a  message  recommending  the  enactment  of  a 
measure  to  enable  him  to  meet  the  threatened  resist 
ance  to  the  laws  of  the  Union.  The  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  of  the  Senate,  to  which  the  message  was  referred, 
quickly  responded  by  introducing  a  bill  i '  further  to 
provide  for  the  collection  of  duties  on  imports.7' 
Upon  the  "  Force  Bill/'  as  its  opponents  denominated 
it,  the  Administration  members,  however,  fell  into 
sharp  division.  To  its  adoption  most  Southerners,  al 
though  adherents  of  Jackson,  were  opposed,  and  the 
situation  became  such  that  aid  was  sought  openly 
among  the  more  independent  of  the  anti-administra- 

1  Webster  to  Kent,  October  29,  1832.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  526. 


250  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

tion  members,  and  first  of  all  from  Webster.  Febru 
ary  8th,  at  the  behest  of  Grundy  and  other  Jacksonian 
leaders,  Webster  rose  in  his  place  and  delivered  a 
clinching  argument  in  behalf  of  the  bill.  He  showed 
how  completely  it  was  an  Administration  measure  and 
by  the  force  of  his  logic  placed  in  a  difficult  position 
those  of  Jackson's  supporters  who  had  been  ill-dis 
posed  toward  it.  He  declared  that  the  bill  was  "in 
dispensable  "  and  contended  that  no  course  was  open 
to  the  President  save  that  which  he  had  taken.  The 
nation,  it  was  affirmed,  was  demanding  steps  such  as 
the  measure  contemplated. 

The  rapprochement  of  Webster  and  Jackson  fright 
ened  Calhouu,  who  thereupon  besought  Clay  to  bring 
in  a  tariff  measure  calculated  to  allay  the  controversy. 
In  the  House  a  bill  to  reduce  and  alter  duties  had  been 
reported  from  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  De 
cember  27th,  by  Verplanck  of  New  York,  and  this 
measure  was  pending  when,  February  12th,  Clay  in 
troduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill  designed  eventually  to 
reduce  the  tariff  to  a  revenue  basis,  although  without 
definitely  abrogating  the  principle  of  protection.  As 
early  as  the  beginning  of  the  session  Clay  had  in  mind 
the  possibility  of  a  compromise,  and  he  now  urged 
with  all  his  eloquence  the  adoption  of  a  scheme  from 
which,  it  was  believed,  the  largest  practicable  measure 
of  satisfaction  might  be  derived  by  all  parties  con 
cerned.  By  Webster  the  proposition  was  opposed  with 
vigor.  February  12th  he  spoke  briefly  upon  it,  and 
the  next  day  he  offered  a  series  of  resolutions  in  which 
his  own  position  was  stated  with  succinctness.  The 
last  of  these  resolutions  was  to  the  effect  that  "no  law 
ought  to  be  passed  on  the  subject  of  imposts,  contain 
ing  any  stipulation,  express  or  implied,  or  giving  any 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          251 

pledge  or  assurance,  direct  or  indirect,  which  shall 
tend  to  restrain  Congress  from  the  full  exercise,  at  all 
times  hereafter,  of  all  its  constitutional  powers,  in 
giving  reasonable  protection  to  American  industry, 
countervailing  the  policy  of  foreign  nations,  and 
maintaining  the  substantial  independence  of  the  United 
States.'71 

For  the  original  adoption  of  the  protective  principle 
Webster,  as  has  been  explained,  was  in  no  wise  re 
sponsible.  He  considered,  however,  that,  for  better 
or  for  worse,  that  principle  had  been  adopted  definitely 
as  early  as  1824,  that  its  maintenance  had  become  one 
of  the  abiding  policies  of  the  nation,  and  that  if  it 
were  to  be  abandoned  the  great  mass  of  capital  and 
business  which  had  grown  up  under  the  shelter  of  the 
protective  system  would  be  placed  in  jeopardy.  There 
was,  in  his  judgment,  no  present  question  of  the  con 
stitutionality  of  protectionism,  and  he  believed  that  to 
offer  concessions  at  a  time  when  the  laws  of  the  coun 
try  were  being  defied  would  weaken  the  position  which 
the  executive  authorities  had  assumed  and  would  en 
courage  the  prolongation  and  the  repetition  of  assaults 
upon  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  He  regarded  it  as 
especially  undesirable  to  tie  the  hands  of  future  con 
gresses  in  respect  to  tariff  legislation.  It  was  not, 
therefore,  the  mere  reduction  of  duties  to  which  ob 
jection  was  raised,  but  rather  the  proposition  to  obli 
gate  the  government  for  a  term  of  years  not  to  exer 
cise  its  proper  authority  within  a  given  field,  and, 
perhaps  above  everything  else,  the  threatened  enact 
ment  of  a  weakening  measure  in  the  face  of,  and  by 
reason  of,  impending  resistance  to  the  exercise  of  a 
constitutional  power.  In  the  crisis  the  thing  for 
1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  449. 


252  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

which  Clay  stood  preeminently  was  compromise  ;  that 
for  which  Webster  stood  was  authority. 

Discussion  of  Clay's  tariff  bill  and  of  the  Force  Bill 
proceeded  simultaneously.  On  February  15th  and  16th 
Calhoun  delivered  a  greatjsp^ech  in  opposition  to  the 
Force  Bill  and  in  advocacy  of  a  series  of  resolutions 
which  he  had  introduced  January  22d  affirming  the 
sovereignty  of  the  states  and  maintaining  that,  "as.  in 
all  othej^^sj^_oX-Coiupa^^  parties, 

without  any_jBommon  judge^eacF  has  an  equal  right 
to  Jucfge  for  itself,  as  well  of  the  Infraction  as  jrf  the 
mode^ang"m'easure^of  redress. ''  ^TEe~grouud  traversed 
was  ianiiliar7"Buf  now  that  a  state  was  proposing 
actually  to  put  to  the  test  the  doctrines  propounded 
the  arguments  which  were  made  acquired  added 
seriousness,  if  not  increased  impressiveness.  As  a 
defense  of  nullification,  it  is  commonly  regarded 
that  this  speech  surpassed  the  effort  of  Senator 
Hayne  in  1830.  It,  in  fact,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
classic  treatment  of  the  subject,  the  product  of  the 
ripened  thought  and  experience  of  the  most  influential, 
and  perhaps  the  ablest,  exponent  of  the  doctrines  in 
volved. 

The  effort  of  Calhoun  prompted  Webster  to  make  the 
lengthy  and  weighty  reply  embodied  in  the  speech 
' l  The  Constitution  not  a  Compact  between  Sovereign 
States ' '  of  February  16th.  Some  days  subsequently  he 
wrote  to  a  friend  :  "It  does  not  seem  magnanimous  to 
underrate  one's  adversary,  but,  truly,  between  our 
selves,  I  was  greatly  disappointed  in  Mr.  Calhoun. 
He  has  little  argument, — at  least  so  it  appeared  to 
me."  *  None  the  less,  Webster  deemed  the  arguments 

1  Webster  to  Nathan  Appleton,  February,  1833.  Van  Tyne, 
"  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  180. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          253 

of  his  opponent  worthy  an  answer,  which  fills  more 
than  fifty  pages  of  print ;  and  by  men  who  were  less 
established  in  matters  of  constitutional  faith  the  magni 
tude  of  the  former  vice-president's  effort  was  univer 
sally  admitted.  The  speech  which  Webster  delivered 
upon  this  occasion  was  less  rhetorical  and  more  closely 
argumentative  than  the  Second  Eeply  to  Hayne  in 
1830.  The  ground  traversed  in  the  two  discourses  was 
much  the  same,  except  that  in  the  present  effort  more 
attention  was  devoted  to  the  historical  and  theoretical 
aspects  of  the  subject.  It  is  undoubtedly  true,  as  Mr. 
Lodge  has  emphasized,  that  the  argument  from  history 
was  the  least  convincing  which  could  have  been 
employed — that  in  attempting  to  demonstrate  that  the 
constitutional  principles  of  1833  were  those  of  1789 
the  speaker  was  forced  back  upon  an  interpretation  of 
history  which  was  not  in  accordance  with  fact.1  None 
the.  less,  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Curtis  may  be  accepted, 
that  no  speech,  perhaps,  ever  made  by  Webster  was 
"  so  close  in  its  reasoning,  so  compact,  and  so  power 
ful. "  2  The  purport  of  the  argument  was  (1)  that  the 
Constitution  is  not  a  conipactT  (2)  that  no  state  pos  - 
sesses  authority  to  dissolve  the  relations~exisfing  be 
tween  Jjh^go^rnment  of  tha  TTnitP.fi  fttatea  and  t.hp 
people,  (3)  that  the  fimiMnterpreter  of  the  powers  of 
the  government  is  the  Supreme  CourtT  and  T4D  that  "an 
attempt  j>y  a  state  tOLahr^gp-tej  9^111  ]f  or  nullify  any 
act  of  Congress,  or  to  arrest  its  operation  withinjier 
limits,  on^thejgound  that,  in  her  opinion,  such  law  is 
unconstitutional,  is  a  direct  usurpation  on  the  just 
powers'of^the  general jypvernment,  and  on  the  equal 
righfs~of  lihlTstatesJ  a  ^lain  violation  of  the  Constitu- 


1  Lodge,  "  Webster,"  pp.  216-217. 
*  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  451. 


254  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tion,  and  a  proceeding  essentially  revolutionary  in  its 
character  and  tendency.'' l 

The  carrying  of  the  Force  Bill  by  overwhelming 
majorities  in  both  branches  of  Congress  rendered  it 
manifest  that  the  full  power  of  the  government  was  to 
be  available  for  the  execution  of  the  laws  in  South 
Carolina.  In  the  Senate  the  vote  was  thirty-two  to 
one,  Tyler  of  Virginia  alone  voting  in  the  negative, 
and  upward  of  half  of  the  members,  among  them  Cal- 
houn,  refusing  to  vote  at  all.  The  vote  in  the  House, 
March  1st,  was  149  to  47.  Meanwhile,  February  19th, 
Clay's  tariff  bill  was  reported  from  committee  in  the 
Senate.  Against  the  enactment  of  the  measure  Web 
ster  spoke  vigorously  six  days  later,  but  the  tide  was 
running  too  strongly  in  the  direction  of  compromise  to 
be  stemmed.  In  the  House  the  text  of  Clay's  bill  was 
substituted  for  the  Yerplanck  project  and,  February 
26th,  the  measure  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  119  to  85. 
March  1st  it  was  passed  in  the  Senate,  twenty -nine  mem 
bers  voting  for  it  and  Webster  and  fifteen  others  voting 
against  it.  Thus,  the  Force  Bill,  intended  to  empower 
the  President  to  execute  the  laws  in  South  Carolina, 
and  the  Compromise  Tariff  Bill,  intended  to  remove 
the  conditions  which  had  led  to  the  attempt  to  evade 
these  laws,  were  brought  to  the  President  for  approval 
simultaneously  j  and  assent  was  at  once  accorded  both 
measures. 

The  enactment  of  the  compromise  tariff  provided  for 
all  parties  an  easy  and  honorable  way  of  escape  from 
an  extremely  difficult  situation.  March  15th,  by  an 
overwhelming  vote,  the  reassembled  South  Carolina 
convention  rescinded  the  ordinance  of  nullification 

1  (t  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  448-505;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  181-238. 


THE  CONTEST  WITH  JACKSON          255 

and  the  legislative  acts  which  had  been  passed  to  give 
it  effect  j  and  although  three  days  later  an  ordinance 
was  voted  ' l  nullifying "  the  Force  Bill,  the  episode 
was  in  reality  at  an  end,  with  both  sides  claiming  a 
victory.  The  settlement  was  not  as  Webster  and  many 
others  would  have  had  it,  but  it  was  probably  the  most 
reasonable  that  could  have  been  reached  under  the  cir 
cumstances.  That  the  difficulty,  however,  was  re 
moved  for  all  time  Webster  joined  with  many  in  doubt 
ing.  "  I  agree  with  you  also  entirely  in  the  opinion," 
he  wrote  to  an  anti-nullification  South  Carolinian, 
"  that  the  danger  is  not  over.  A  systematic  and  bold 
attack,  now  just  begun,  will  be  carried  on,  I  apprehend, 
against  the  just  and  constitutional  powers  of  the 
Government,  and  against  whatsoever  strengthens  the 
union  of  the  states.  For  my  own  part,  I  look  forward 
to  an  animated  controversy  on  these  pointsfor  yjars to' 
come  ;  andriFwe  can  sustain  our  side~oTt5econtroversy, 
my  dear  "sir,  ^with  success,  as  I  hope  and  believe  we 
may,  we  shall  transmit  to  posterity  an  inheritance 
above  all  price. "  l 

1  Webster  to  Perry,  April  10,  1833.     Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  458. 


CHAPTER  X 

PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS 

IN  the  early  summer  of  1833  Webster  found  leisure 
to  pay  the  Middle  West  a  visit  which  had  been  long  in 
contemplation.  Traveling  from  Boston  by  way  of 
Albany,  he  tarried  in  the  valley  of  the  Genesee  to 
study  the  agriculture  of  that  attractive  region,  visited 
Buffalo,  where  he  declined  the  honor  of  a  formal  recep 
tion,  pressed  on  to  Columbus,  and  at  length  arrived,  at 
Cincinnati,  where,  at  a  public  dinner,  he  spoke  for  an 
hour  in  response  to  the  toast  "  the  pro  found  expounder 
of  the  Constitution,  the  eloquent  supporter  of  the 
Federal  Union,  and  the  uniform  friend  and  advocate  of 
the  Western  country. '  *  By  reason  of  the  prevalence  of 
the  cholera  in  many  of  the  Western  cities,  and  likewise 
on  account  of  his  desire  to  return  to  New  England  be 
fore  the  close  of  a  visit  of  the  President  to  that  section,1 
lie  refused  the  scores  of  invitations  which  poured  in 
upon  him  from  various  remoter  states  and  cities,  and 
from  Cincinnati  turned  back  eastward.  Among  the 
invitations  was  one  from  Clay,  urging  an  excursion  to 
Louisville  and  Lexington,  and  one  from  a  committee  of 
citizens  of  Nashville,  the  home  of  Jackson.  On  the 
return  trip  he  arrived,  July  4th,  at  Pittsburgh,  where, 
four  days  later,  he  was  tendered  an  informal  and 
highly  enthusiastic  outdoor  reception  and  was  induced 

1  Jackson  left  Washington  earl}*  in  June  and,  after  sojourning  in 
Boston  and  vicinity  throughout  the  month,  returned  to  the  capital 
July  4th,  while  Webster  was  yefc  on  the  way  from  the  West, 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    257 

to  deliver  an  address  of  some  length.1  So  notable  were 
the  amenities  of  the  trip  that  the  National  Intelligencer 
was  moved  to  declare  :  "  Mr.  Webster  has  wrought  lit 
tle  less  than  a  miracle  upon  the  party  feuds  and 
divisions  of  the  Western  country  ;  he  has  fairly  extin 
guished  the  one  and  obliterated  the  other. "  It  was 
hardly  to  be  expected,  however,  that  the  felicitations 
of  an  hour  would  exert  an  effect  that  would  prove  en 
during,  and  ere  long  not  only  were  the  "feuds  and 
divisions"  of  the  West  as  rampant  as  ever  they  had 
been,  bui  Webster  himself  was  plunged  afresh  in  the 
swirl  of  party  controversy. 

A  memorandum  bearing  the  laconic  title  "  Objects," 
without  date,  but  drawn  up  about  the  time  of  the 
Western  journey,  sets  forth  in  an  illuminating  fashion 
Webster's  programme  of  public  policy  at  this  stage  of 
his  career.  It  runs,  in  part:  "  First,  and  principal, 
to  maintain  the  Union  of  the  states,  and  uphold  the 
Constitution,  against  the  attempts  of  its  enemies, 
whether  attacking  it  directly  by  nullification,  or  seek 
ing  to  break  it  up  by  secession.  Second,  to  support 
the  Administration,  fairly,  in  all  its  just  and  proper 
measures  ;  and  especially  to  stand  by  the  President  in 
his  patriotic  constitutional  principles.  Third,  to  main 
tain  the  cause  of  American  Capital,  American  In 
dustry,  and  more  than  all  American  Labor,  against 
foreign  and  destructive  competition,  by  a  reasonable, 
moderate,  but  settled  and  permanent  system  of  protect 
ive  duties.  Fourth,  to  preserve  the  general  currency 
of  the  country,  in  a  safe  state,  well  guarded  against 
those  who  would  speculate  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  cir 
culating  paper ;  and  to  this  end  to  advocate  the 

1  "Works  of  Daniel  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  291-306;  "Writings 
and  Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  141-156. 


258  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

renewal  of  the  Bank  of  the  U.  S.  as  the  best  means  ol 
promoting  this  end,  and  as  especially  useful  in  this 
part  of  the  Country,  as  a  check  against  the  combina 
tion  of  other  monied  influences.  Fifth,  to  resist  and 
oppose  the  oppression  and  tyrannical  combination  oi 
the  Eegency.  .  .  .  Sixth,  I  oppose,  vigorously  and 
unceasingly,  all  unlawful  combinations,  all  secret 
oaths,  all  associations  of  men,  meeting  in  darkness, 
and  striving  to  obtain  for  themselves,  by  combination 
and  concert,  advantages  not  enjoyed  by  other  citizens 
of  the  Kepublic."  ' 

At  the  height  of  the  contest  over  nullification  the 
Administration  had  been  pleased  to  profit  by  the  sup 
port  of  so  powerful  an  advocate  as  Webster,  and  after 
the  crisis  had  passed  the  President  took  pains  person 
ally  to  express  his  appreciation  of  the  service  that  had 
been  rendered.  It  is  the  testimony  of  Beuton  that 
many  people  at  the  time  imagined  that  thereafter 
Webster  and  Jackson  would  be  found  in  substantial 
accord  and  that  a  cabinet  appointment  or  an  important 
post  abroad  would  be  the  senator's  reward.  If,  how 
ever,  there  were  those  who  really  contemplated  such  a 
possibility,  they  must  have  been  persons  whose  ac 
quaintance  with  the  two  men  was  far  from  intimate. 
For  in  training,  temperament,  and  ideas  there  was  be 
tween  the  two  the  most  complete  incompatibility. 
They  had  in  common  an  undying  devotion  to  the 
Union  and  a  purpose  to  promote  under  all  circumstances 
the  enforcement  of  the  laws ;  but  beyond  that  they 
could  not  go  far  together.  "  On  many  points  of  what 
was  then  the  proposed  future  policy  of  the  Govern 
ment,"  asserted  Webster  himself  in  1838,  "  there  was 
no  great  difference  of  opinion  ;  but  there  was  an  irrec- 
1  Van  Tyne,  "Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  183. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS   259 

oncilable  difference  on  the  great  question  of  the  cur 
rency."  l  And  it  so  happened  that  throughout  the 
Jacksonian  period  the  one  subject  which  was  most 
persistently  thrust  into  the  foreground  of  congressional 
and  public  controversy,  even  beyond  nullification  it 
self,  was  the  currency. 

During  the  winter  of  1832-1833  the  hostility  of  the 
President  toward  the  Bank  assumed  a  new  and  start 
ling  aspect.  Not  content  with  the  defeat  of  the  meas 
ure  to  recharter  the  institution,  Jackson  now  proposed 
that  the  funds  of  the  United  States  deposited  with  the 
Bank  should  be  withdrawn  forthwith  and  that  all  de 
posits  should  be  made  thereafter  in  state  banks  to  be 
selected  by  the  Executive.  The  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  to  be  left  to  eke  out  such  an  existence  as  it 
might  until  its  charter  should  expire  in  1836.  The 
project  was  under  consideration  as  early  as  December, 
1832,  and  by  the  following  March  Webster  was  in 
formed  of  it,  although  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  speak 
publicly  concerning  it.  At  the  end  of  May  McLane, 
who  was  opposed  to  the  removal,  was  succeeded  in  the 
Treasury  by  William  Duane,  who  was  supposed  to  be 
favorable,  and  after  his  return  from  the  New  England 
tour,  in  July,  the  President  resolved  definitely  upon 
the  execution  of  the  plan.  It  is  suggested  by  Mr. 
Curtis  that  had  Webster  been  in  Boston  upon  the  oc 
casion  of  the  President's  sojourn  there  he  might  have 
exerted  his  influence  successfully  to  avert  the  step 
which  was  impending.  This  is,  of  course,  sheer  con 
jecture.  Without  question  Jackson  was  laboring  un 
der  the  disadvantage  of  bad  advice  upon  the  subject, 
but  there  is  no  reason,  other  than  his  friendly  disposi- 

1  Memorandum  of  1838,  based  011  conversations  with  Edward 
Livingston  in  1833.  Cited  in  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  464. 


260  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

tion  toward  Webster  at  this  time,  for  supposing  tha; 
lie  would  have  been  turned  by  a  political  opponen ; 
from  a  course  which  had  long  appealed  to  him  as  en 
tirely  logical  and  necessary.  In  any  event,  on  Sep- 
tember  18th  he  read  to  the  cabinet  a  paper  announcing 
his  final  purpose  j  two  days  later  the  decision  was 
made  public  ;  on  September  23d  Duaue,  refusing  to 
lend  himself  to  the  scheme,  was  succeeded  at  the 
Treasury  by  Koger  B.  Taney  ;  on  September  26th  the 
new  secretary  signed  the  order  for  the  removal  ;  anc 
October  1st  deposits  began  to  be  made  in  the  first  of 
the  state  institutions  to  be  selected  for  the  purpose, 
the  Girard  Bank  of  Philadelphia. 

The  effect  of  this  sudden  shift  in  the  relations  of  the 
government  with  the  banking  institutions  of  the  coun 
try  was  to  precipitate  wide-spread  panic  and  commer 
cial  distress,  and  when  Congress  reassembled,  in  De 
cember,  1833,  the  two  houses  were  deluged  with 
memorials  calling  for  relief.  To  the  course  of  the  Ad 
ministration  Webster,  who  at  this  critical  juncture 
became  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance, 
was  unalterably  opposed.  The  subject  of  public 
finance  was  one  in  which  he  had  long  manifested  in 
terest  in  a  very  special  degree.  He  represented  a  sec 
tion  of  the  country  in  which  business  and  trade  wen 
highly  developed  and  in  which  the  property  of  the 
people  was  wrapped  up  absolutely  with  the  maiute 
nance  of  a  sound  and  uniform  currency.  He  was  not  a 
thoroughgoing  ' i  hard-money  ' '  man.  On  the  contrary, 
he  regarded  paper  money  as  a  desirable  adjunct  of 
every  well-ordered  currency  system.  But  he  would 
have  the  circulation  of  depreciated  paper  repressed  by 
the  refusal  of  the  government  to  accept  as  revenue  any 
paper  which  was  not  actually  and  immediately  con- 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    *>1 

vertible  into  specie — a  policy  which,  it  may  be  said, 
had  been  maintained  without  deviation  through  up 
ward  of  two  decades.  He  believed,  furthermore,  that 
the  continuous  existence  of  a  great  financial  institution 
of  the  type  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  nec 
essary  to  preserve  the  stability  and  uniformity  of  the 
currency,  and  he  considered  the  banks  of  the  states  to 
be  altogether  incapable  of  performing  the  service 
which  had  been  performed  by  that  Bank.  He  recog 
nized  in  1833  that  as  matters  stood  hardly  more  was 
to  be  hoped  for  than  a  possible  agreement  to  prolong 
for  a  brief  period  after  1836  the  existence  of  the  Bank  ; 
bat  the  existence  of  the  Bank  would  be  of  little  avail 
unless  the  government  should  continue  to  transact 
business  through  the  institution,  so  that  the  most  im 
mediate  task  was  to  bring  to  bear  the  pressure  neces 
sary  to  compel  a  reversal  of  the  President's  policy  re 
specting  the  deposits. 

On  December  26th  Clay  introduced  in  the  Senate 
two  memorable  resolutions  designed  to  comprise  at 
the  same  time  a  censure  of  the  President  and  an  asser 
tion  of  the  ultimate  authority  of  Congress  over  the 
subject  under  controversy.  The  first  declared  that, 
by  dismissing  Duane  because  he  would  not  order  the 
removal  of  the  deposits,  and  by  appointing  Taney  be 
cause  he  was  willing  to  perform  this  act,  the  President 
had  "  assumed  upon  himself  authority  and  power  not 
conferred  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  but  in  dero 
gation  of  both. ' '  The  second  affirmed  that  the  reasons 
assigned  by  Secretary  Taney  for  the  removal  were 
" unsatisfactory  and  insufficient."  Throughout  the 
earlier  months  of  1834  discussion  of  these  resolutions 
and  of  kindred  proposals  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else.  Be- 


262  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

tween  January  20th,  when  he  presented  a  memorial 
adopted  by  a  public  meeting  in  Boston,  and  the  ad 
journment  of  Congress,  in  June,  Webster  alone  spoke 
upon  the  subject  no  fewer  than  sixty-four  times.  On 
February  5th  he  submitted  for  the  Committee  on 
Finance  an  elaborate  report  on  the  second  of  Clay's 
resolutions,  recommending  its  adoption,1  and  March 
18th  he  introduced  and  defended  a  bill  for  the  pro 
longation  of  the  Bank  charter  during  a  period  of  six 
years.2  On  March  28th  both  of  Clay's  resolutions  were 
adopted,  the  one  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six  to  twenty,  the 
other  by  a  vote  of  twenty-eight  to  eighteen.  The  sub 
ject,  however,  continued  uninterruptedly  under  con 
sideration,  for  although  Webster's  bill  was  not  carried, 
on  April  17th  the  President  sent  to  the  Senate  a  mes 
sage  in  which  he  protested  against  the  censure  which 
had  been  passed  upon  him  as  1 1  wholly  unauthorized 
by  the  Constitution,  and  contrary  to  its  spirit  and  to 
several  of  its  express  provisions,"  and  requested  that 
the  message  and  protest  be  entered  at  length  on  the 
journals  of  the  Senate.  This  remarkable  rejoinder 
precipitated  a  notable  outburst  of  debate.  Into  it 
Webster  was  drawn  with  much  reluctance,  for  he  still 
appreciated  too  deeply  the  services  of  the  President  in 
the  crisis  which  had  been  passed  to  be  able  to  find  the 
satisfaction  which  some  of  his  colleagues  found  in  sub 
jecting  him  to  attack.  He  felt  very  strongly,  however, 
that  the  balance  of  power  contemplated  in  the  Consti 
tution  was  menaced  by  the  attitude  which  Jackson 
had  assumed,  and  on  May  7th  he  was  led  to  deliver  a 
powerful  speech  in  defense  of  the  recently  adopted 
resolutions  of  censure. 


1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp. 
a  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  82-102. 


50-81. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    263 

The  propositions  which  were  advanced  in  the  presi 
dential  protest  were,  in  brief,  (1)  that  the  Constitu 
tion,  by  vesting  in  the  President  the  supreme  executive 
power,  including  the  power  of  appointment,  was  in 
tended  to  give  him  discretionary  control  over  the 
tenure  and  conduct  of  all  subordinate  executive  offi 
cials  ;  (2)  that  notwithstanding  the  provision  of  the 
Bank  charter  to  the  effect  that  the  public  deposits 
might  be  discontinued  only  on  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  in  which  event  that  officer  should  lay 
before  Congress  his  reasons  for  the  course  adopted,  the 
President  might  interpose  his  own  judgment,  instruct  the 
Secretary  to  remove  the  deposits,  and  dismiss  him  from 
office  if  he  did  not  comply  ;  and  (3)  that  neither  branch 
of  Congress  can  rightfully  take  up  or  consider  for  the 
purpose  of  censure,  any  official  act  of  the  President, 
without  some  view  to  legislation  or  the  institution  of 
impeachment  proceedings.  The  principal  issue  raised 
by  the  Protest  was,  then,  u  whether  the  general 
executive  power  of  the  President  is  of  such  a  character 
that  legislation  cannot  direct  a  subordinate  officer  to 
perform  duties  which  are  executive  in  their  nature, 
without  subjecting  that  officer,  in  the  performance  of 
these  duties,  to  the  control  of  the  President."  l  In  his 
speech  upon  this  subject  Webster  surveyed  with  iu- 
cisiveness  the  debatable  ground  which  lies  between 
the  denned  limits  of  the  executive  and  legislative  de 
partments  and  sought  to  show  that  the  position  which 
Jackson  had  assumed  was  untenable.2  The  general 
power  of  appointment  and  removal  was,  of  course, 
recognized.  But  it  was  maintained  that,  even  though 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  489. 

8  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  103-147;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  103-147. 


264  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  President  might  change  the  officer,  the  duties  of 
the  office  must  remain  as  determined  by  Congress,  and 
they  must  be  discharged  by  the  successor  in  accord 
ance  with  the  law.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  argu 
ment,  masterful  as  it  was,  was  at  all  points  conclusive. 
The  removal  of  the  deposits  is  commonly  adjudged 
a  serious  mistake,  but  the  controversy  which  arose 
from  it,  in  so  far  as  it  was  of  a  purely  constitutional 
character,  involved  some  elements  of  advantage  on 
both  sides.  The  ultimate  right  of  protest  which  Jack 
son  asserted  can  hardly  be  questioned  ;  nor  can  the 
President's  contention  that  the  grant  of  the  power  of 
impeachment  precludes  the  indulgence  of  Congress  in 
mere  u  censure."  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  scarcely  to 
be  admitted  that  the  President  had  a  right  to  demand 
the  admission  of  his  protest  to  a  place  in  the  Senate 
journals. 

Immediately  following  Webster's  speech  the  Senate 
adopted,  by  substantial  majorities,  a  series  of  resolu 
tions  declaring  that  the  Protest  asserted  powers  as  be 
longing  to  the  President  which  were  inconsistent  with 
the  authority  of  Congress  and  contrary  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  that  the  President  had  uno  right  to  send  a  protest 
to  the  Senate  against  any  of  its  proceedings,"  and  that 
the  Protest  should  not  be  entered  upon  the  journals. 
The  opposition  majority  was  powerless,  however,  to 
do  more  than  thus  to  express  its  hostility,  for  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  the  Jacksonians  commanded 
a  substantial  majority,  and  when  the  Senate  resolu 
tions  were  transmitted  to  that  body  they  were  merely 
laid  upon  the  table.  So  far  as  the  immediate  circum 
stance  went,  the  triumph  of  the  President  was  com 
plete.  A  clear  result  of  the  controversy,  however,  had 
been  to  consolidate  more  effectively  than  hitherto  the 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    265 

elements  from  which  the  Whig  party  was  beiug 
gradually  evolved  j  and  in  time  the  effect  of  this  con 
solidation  was  destined  to  be  felt  in  the  collapse  of  the 
Jacksonian  regime  under  repeated  Whig  assaults. 

During  the  sessions  of  1834-1835  and  1835-1836  the 
attention  of  Congress  was  absorbed  in  no  small  measure 
by  a  threatening  situation  which  had  arisen  between 
the  United  States  and  France.  By  a  convention  con 
cluded  July  4,  1831,  the  French  Government  had 
obligated  itself  to  pay  to  the  United  States  the  sum  of 
twenty-five  million  francs  in  liquidation  of  claims  of 
American  citizens  arising  from  commercial  injuries  re 
ceived  during  the  era  of  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Pay 
ment  was  to  be  made  in  six  annual  instalments,  begin 
ning  one  year  from  the  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the 
treaty  (February  2,  1832).  The  treaty  was  unpopular 
in  France  and  when,  in  February,  1833,  the  first  pay 
ment  fell  due,  a  draft  on  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
presented  through  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was 
refused  on  the  ground  that  the  Chambers  had  ad 
journed  without  making  an  appropriation  to  meet  it. 
Two  years  of  inaction  and  vain  parleyings  ensued,  and 
in  December,  1834,  President  Jackson,  irritated  by  the 
delay,  laid  before  Congress  a  complete  history  of  the 
negotiations  and  recommended  that  a  measure  be 
passed  authorizing  reprisals  upon  French  property  in 
the  event  that  no  appropriation  should  be  made  at 
the  approaching  session  of  the  French  Chambers.  In 
Paris  the  President's  recommendation  was  taken  as  a 
threat,  and  in  January,  1835,  the  French  minister  at 
Washington  was  recalled  and  the  American  minister 
to  France,  the  ex-secretary  of  state  Livingston,  was 
given  his  passports.  The  Chambers  were  disposed  to 
insist  that  before  payment  of  the  debt  should  be  begun 


266  DAKIEL  WEBSTER 

President  Jackson  should  be  required  to  tender  an 
apology  for  the  insult  which  had  been  offered.  Noth 
ing  was  more  certain  than  that  such  an  apology  would 
not  be  forthcoming,  and  war  seemed  imminent.  In 
the  Senate,  however,  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Af 
fairs,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Clay,  reported  that  it 
would  be  inexpedient  to  adopt  the  President's  recom 
mendation.  "There  are,"  wrote  Webster,  "three 
parties  in  Congress  on  this  question  :  the  Jackson 
party  proper,  which,  like  its  chief,  feels  very  warlike  ; 
the  Southern  anti-Jackson  men,  who  seem  to  me  to  be 
in  the  other  extreme  ;  .  .  .  and  then  there  is  the 
rest  of  us,  who  desire  to  say  and  do  nothing  to  en 
courage  France  in  her  neglect  of  our  rights,  and  who 
are  not  willing,  nevertheless,  to  hazard  the  peace  of 
the  country  without  absolute  necessity."  l  It  was  this 
third  group  which,  fortunately  for  all  concerned,  con 
trolled  the  policy  of  the  houses  throughout  the  crisis. 
In  the  annual  message  of  December  7,  1835,  the  Presi 
dent  declared  that  the  honor  of  his  country  should 
never  be  stained  by  an  apology  from  him  "for  the 
statement  of  truth  and  the  performance  of  duty," 
and  in  a  special  message,  January  15,  1836,  he  again 
counseled  reprisals  and  naval  preparedness.  On  Jan 
uary  27th,  however,  Great  Britain  offered  mediation 
and,  the  offer  being  accepted,  Jackson  was  able  to  in 
form  Congress,  May  10th,  that  the  difficulty  had  been 
adjusted  and  that  the  four  instalments  then  due  had 
been  paid. 

In  connection  with  the  French  episode  Webster  de 
livered  in  the  Senate  two  notable  speeches.  The  first 
was  in  defense  of  a  bill  proposing  that  the  United 

1  Webster  to  William  Sullivan,  February  23,  1835.  Curtis, 
"Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  515-516. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS   267 

States  should  assume  a  definite  obligation  for  claims 
arising  from  French  depredations  on  American  com 
merce  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  convention  of 
October  1,  1800.  These  claims,  aggregating  five  mil 
lion  dollars,  had  been  excluded  from  the  convention 
named,  and  throughout  a  generation  the  claimants, 
cut  off  from  recourse  against  France,  had  insisted  that 
the  government  of  the  United  States  should  make 
reparation  for  their  losses.  In  his  speech  of  January 
12,  1835,  Webster  urged  that  the  question  was  not  one 
of  party  nor  of  public  policy  but  one  simply  of  justice 
to  private  individuals. l  Over  the  opposi  tion  of  Ben  ton, 
Tyler,  Wright,  and  other  influential  members,  the 
measure  was  carried  in  the  Senate,  January  28th.  In 
the  House,  however,  it  failed  to  be  acted  upon,  and  in 
point  of  fact  the  " French  spoliation  claims"  were 
never  put  in  the  way  of  actual  adjustment  until,  in 
1885,  they  were  submitted  formally  to  the  Court  of 
Claims. 

The  second  of  Webster's  important  speeches  oc 
casioned  by  the  French  entanglement  was  that  of  Jan 
uary  14,  1836,  in  explanation  of  his  opposition  to  the 
Fortification  Bill  of  the  previous  year.  March  3,  1835, 
when  the  last  session  of  the  Twenty -fourth  Congress  was 
almost  at  an  end,  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  adopted 
and  transmitted  to  the  Senate  an  amendment  to  the 
pending  Fortification  Bill  stipulating  that  the  sum  of 
three  million  dollars  should  be  appropriated,  to  be  ex 
pended  by  the  President  for  the  improvement  of  the 
military  and  naval  services,  provided  such  an  outlay 
should  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  defense  of  the 
country  prior  to  the  next  meeting  of  Congress.  In  the 
Senate  the  amendment  was  opposed  with  spirit  by 
1  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  152-178. 


268  DANIEL  WEBSTBE 

Webster,  on  the  double  ground  that  no  such  appro 
priation  had  been  asked  for  by  the  Executive  and  that 
the  objects  of  the  proposed  expenditure  were  left  with 
out  specification.  The  Senate  declined  to  concur  in 
the  proposal.  The  House,  however,  refused  to  abandon 
it,  and  although  a  conference  committee,  of  which 
Webster  was  a  member,  brought  in  a  report  favoring 
specific  appropriations  aggregating  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  House  failed  to  act  upon  the  re 
port  and  the  entire  Fortification  Bill  was  lost.  In  his 
message  of  December,  1836,  the  President  asserted  that 
much  injury  and  inconvenience  had  been  experienced 
by  reason  of  the  failure  of  the  bill  and  irnpliedly  cen 
sured  the  Senate  for  the  stand  which  that  body  had 
maintained.  Webster  having  been  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  Senate's  action,  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to 
make  reply,  and  he  did  so,  January  14,  1836,  in  a 
speech  in  which  he  defended  at  all  points  the  course 
which  had  been  pursued  and  avowed  that  if  the  propo 
sition  of  the  House  were  then  before  the  upper 
chamber,  "  and  the  guns  of  the  enemy  were  pointed 
against  the  walls  of  the  Capitol,  • '  he  would  not  agree 
to  it.1  For  the  employment  of  this  somewhat  start 
ling  language  he  was  criticized  so  sharply  by  fellow- 
members  of  the  Senate  that,  he  was  impelled  to  write 
out  a  speech  in  his  own  defense.  By  his  more  intimate 
friends,  however,  he  was  persuaded  that  a  formal  re 
ply  was  neither  necessary  nor  expedient. 

On  February  16,  1835,  the  Senate  having  under  con 
sideration  a  bill  intended  to  reduce  the  influence 
wielded  by  the  President  through  the  public  patron 
age,  Webster  made  a  speech  in  which  he  discussed 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  205-229;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  205-229. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    269 

with  fulness  the  questions  involved  in  the  appoint 
ment  and  removal  of  federal  officials  and  gave  expres 
sion  to  some  distinctly  unusual  views  to  which  he 
clung  upon  that  subject.1  The  extent  of  the  patronage 
had  become  such,  he  asserted,  that  the  mass  of  private 
and  personal  interest  by  it  injected  into  all  public 
elections  and  public  questions  had  reached,  already, 
an  alarming  height.  The  only  remedy,  it  seemed  to 
him,  was  to  place  a  restriction  upon  * '  the  unlimited 
power  to  grant  office  and  to  take  it  away  "  which  the 
Chief  Executive  enjoyed  j  and  the  most  obvious  means 
of  doing  this  was  to  bring  to  bear  what  Webster  al 
ways  believed  to  be  the  true  intent  of  the  Constitution, 
namely,  that  the  power  of  removal,  like  the  power  of 
appointment,  should  be  exercised,  not  by  the  Presi 
dent  alone,  but  by  the  President  and  Senate  con 
jointly.  It  is  well  enough  known  that  in  1789  the 
question  arose  as  to  whether  the  Senate  should  be  en 
titled  to  cooperate  with  the  President  in  removals,  and 
that,  despite  a  good  deal  of  difference  of  opinion,  the 
view  finally  prevailed  that  practical  convenience  re 
quired  that  in  the  making  of  removals  the  Chief  Exec 
utive  should  be  free  to  act  alone.  This  decision  Web 
ster  believed  to  have  been  unwise,  if  not  clearly  con 
trary  to  the  meaning  and  intent  of  the  Constitution, 
and  in  the  speech  of  1835  he  developed  at  length  his 
reasons  for  so  believing.  At  the  same  time,  he  recog 
nized  that  the  practice  of  decades  was  not  likely  to  be 
reversed  at  a  stroke,  and  he  expressed  himself  as,  for 
the  present,  content  with  the  pending  bill,  which  re 
quired  that  when  a  nomination  should  be  made  to  the 
Senate  to  fill  a  vacancy  created  by  the  removal  of  an 

1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  179-199;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  179-199. 


270  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

incumbent  the  nomination  of  the  new  official  should 
be  accompanied  by  an  explanation  of  the  reasons  for 
the  removal  of  the  old  one.  It  is  the  almost  unani 
mous  judgment  of  students  of  our  constitutional  law 
that  the  decision  of  1789  was,  in  point  of  fact,  the 
only  correct  one,  and  that  the  method  of  removal 
which  Webster  advocated  would  but  tend  to  diffuse 
responsibility  and  hence  to  aggravate  the  evils  com 
plained  of.  The  argument  which  he  made  was  plausi 
ble,  but  it  was  essentially  speculative  in  character  and 
was  not  altogether  devoid  of  the  spirit  of  partisanship. 
The  bill  which  gave  rise  to  the  debate  failed  to  become 
law. 

Throughout  the  years  1835-1836  the  attention  of 
Congress  continued  to  be  occupied  from  time  to  time 
by  questions  arising  more  or  less  immediately  from 
the  discontinuance  of  the  Bank.  On  February  18, 
1835,  Senator  Benton  introduced  a  resolution  to  ex 
punge  from  the  journals  of  the  Senate  the  record  of 
the  censure  of  Jackson  voted  March  28,  1834.  By  a 
vote  of  thirty-nine  to  seven,  however,  the  proposal  was 
rejected  and,  upon  motion  of  Webster,  the  resolution 
was  laid  upon  the  table.  A  similar  proposal,  in  1836, 
met  a  similar  fate,  and  it  was  not  until  January  16, 
1837,  that  an  expunging  resolution  was  finally  carried, 
by  the  narrow  vote  of  twenty-four  to  nineteen.  The 
revision  of  the  records  of  the  chamber  which  was  at; 
last  obtained  was  clearly  unconstitutional,  but  the 
President  was  vindicated  to  his  own  and  his  support 
ers' satisfaction  and  "  the  people"  were  once  more 
supreme.  Against  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
Webster  made  emphatic  protest.  "  We  tell  you,"  he 
declared,  speaking  for  his  colleague  and  himself, 
"  that  you  have  no  right  to  mar  or  mutilate  the  record 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    271 

of  our  votes  given  here,  and  recorded  according  to  the 
Constitution  j  we  tell  you  that  we  may  as  well  erase  the 
yeas  and  nays  on  any  other  question  or  resolution,  or 
on  all  questions  or  resolutions,  as  on  this  j  we  tell  you 
that  you  have  just  as  much  right  to  falsify  the  record, 
by  so  altering  it  as  to  make  us  appear  to  have  voted 
on  any  question  as  we  did  not  vote,  as  you  have  to 
erase  a  record,  and  make  that  page  a  blank  in  which 
our  votes,  as  they  were  actually  given  and  recorded, 
now  stand.  The  one  proceeding,  as  it  appears  to  us, 
is  as  much  of  a  falsification  of  the  record  as  the 
other."  l 

In  February,  1835,  Webster  took  advantage  of  a  de 
bate  upon  a  bill  regulating  the  deposits  of  the  public 
money  to  propose  and  carry  a  provision  to  the  effect 
that,  upon  demand,  Treasury  drafts  upon  the  deposit 
banks  should  be  paid  in  gold  or  silver.  In  the  re 
marks  which  he  made  upon  the  subject,  February 
26th,  he  emphasized  the  fact  that  already  the  disad 
vantages  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits  were  beginning 
to  appear  and  that  the  full  effect  of  the  Administra 
tion's  financial  policies  would  be  felt  only  after  the 
paper  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  should  have 
disappeared  from  circulation.  At  the  same  time,  he 
considered  the  rechartering  of  the  Bank  for  the  pres 
ent  a  dead  issue.  "  I  wish  to  say,"  he  asserted,  "  that 
I  consider  the  question  of  renewing  the  Bank  charter 
as  entirely  settled.  It  cannot  be  renewed.  Public 
opinion,  very  unfortunately,  as  I  think,  for  the  coun 
try,  has  decided  against  it ;  and  while  there  is  a  strong 
and  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  minds  of  the  com 
munity  against  a  measure,  it  is  quite  useless  to  pro- 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  296-297  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  34-35. 


272  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

pose  it.  For  myself,  I  shall  take  no  part  in  any  at 
tempt  to  renew  the  charter  of  the  Bank.  The  peop  e 
have  decided  against  its  continuance,  and  it  must  ex 
pire.  Nor  shall  I,  if  I  remain  in  public  life,  join  in 
any  attempt,  at  any  time  hereafter,  to  establish  a  new 
national  bank,  till  experience  of  its  want  shall  have 
satisfied  the  country  of  its  great  utility  or  indispen 
sable  necessity.  That  the  time  will  come  when  the 
country  will  feel  the  fullest  conviction  of  this  neces 
sity,  I  do  not  doubt  j  but  that  conviction,  I  think,  is 
likely  to  be  brought  about  only  by  experience."  l 

Although  recognizing  the  impossibility  of  an  early 
recharteriug  of  the  Bank,  Webster  was  ready  to  do 
what  could  be  done  to  save  the  country  from  the  worst 
consequences  of  the  Administration's  policy  ;  and  as 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance  it  fel  1 
to  him  to  assume  a  prominent  part  in  the  recurring 
fiscal  discussions.  The  fundamental  difficulties  of  the 
situation  arose,  in  his  judgment,  from  the  superabun 
dance  of  the  public  funds  and  from  their  insecurity. 
The  overflowing  condition  of  the  Treasury2  was  attrib 
utable,  so  he  declared  in  remarks  of  April  23,  1835,  to 
Jackson's  pocket  veto  (in  March,  1833)  of  Clay's  bill 
for  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  pub 
lic  lands  ;  the  insecurity  of  the  public  money  was  af 
firmed  to  be  a  result  of  the  veto  of  the  Bank  Bill  and 
the  removal  of  the  deposits,  whereby  was  overthrown 
"  the  great  and  salutary  check  to  the  immoderate  issue 
of  paper  money."  The  distribution  project  reap 
peared  in  December,  1833,  and  again  in  December,  1835. 

1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  200-201  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  VoL  VII,  pp.  200-201. 

*  In  January,  1835,  the  country  found  itself  entirely  without 
debt. 

5"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  238-246. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    273 

The  proposal  upon  the  later  of  these  occasions  was  to 
distribute  the  proceeds  of  the  land  sales  for  the  years 
1833-1837.  May  4,  1836,  a  bill  of  this  purport  passed 
the  Senate,  but  the  House  laid  the  measure  upon  the 
table ;  and  when,  June  23d,  a  bill  upon  the  subject 
finally  became  law  the  funds  to  be  distributed  were 
made  to  comprise  everything  in  the  Treasury  January 
1,  1837  in  excess  of  five  million  dollars,  from  whatso 
ever  source  derived,  and  the  sums  distributed  were  re 
garded  technically  as  "  loans"  rather  than  as  absolute 
gifts.  The  bill  was  Calhoun's,  although  certain  features 
of  it  were  introduced  in  an  amendment  proposed  by 
Webster. 

The  policy  adopted  was  that  of  a  single  distribution, 
in  four  instalments,  rather  than  that  of  continuous 
distributions  through  either  a  fixed  or  an  unlimited 
period  of  time.  To  a  policy  of  the  latter  sort  Webster 
was  unalterably  opposed,  unless  the  funds  to  be  dis 
tributed  should  be  exclusively  those  arising  from  the 
sale  of  public  lands.  "  There  would  be,"  he  declared 
in  a  speech  of  May  31,  1836,  ''insuperable  objections, 
in  my  opinion,  to  a  settled  practice  of  distributing 
revenue  among  the  states.  It  would  be  a  strange 
operation  of  things,  and  its  effects  on  our  system  of 
government  might  well  be  feared.  I  cannot  reconcile 
myself  to  the  spectacle  of  the  states  receiving  their 
revenues,  their  means  even  of  supporting  their  own 
governments,  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 
If,  indeed,  the  land  bill  could  pass,  and  we  could  act 
on  the  policy,  which  I  think  the  true  policy,  of  re 
garding  the  public  lands  as  a  fund  belonging  to  the 
people  of  all  the  states,  I  should  cheerfully  concur  in 
that  policy,  and  be  willing  to  make  an  annual  distri 
bution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  lands,  for  some  years  at 


274  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

least.  But  if  we  cannot  separate  the  proceeds  of  the 
lands  from  other  revenue,  if  all  must  go  into  tie 
Treasury  together,  and  there  remain  together,  then  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  now,  that  the  income 
from  customs  must  be  reduced.  It  must  be  reduced, 
evreu  at  the  hazard  of  injury  to  some  branches  of  man 
ufacturing  industry ;  because  this,  in  niy  opinion, 
would  be  a  less  evil  than  that  extraordinary  and  dan 
gerous  state  of  things,  in  which  the  United  States 
should  be  found  laying  and  collecting  taxes,  for  the 
purpose  of  distributing  them,  when  collected,  arnon:*' 
the  states  of  the  Union."1  Herein  Webster  closely 
approached  the  eminently  sensible  position  which 
Jackson  himself  had  maintained  with  respect  to  the 
entire  subject,  namely,  that  the  best  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  surplus  was  so  to  amend  the  fiscal  sys 
tern  that  there  should  be  no  surplus. 

Meanwhile  there  came  on  the  presidential  campaign 
of  1836.  On  the  Democratic  side  the  conditions  at 
tending  this  contest  were  almost  as  simple  as  those  of 
four  years  before.  Jackson,  out  of  regard  for  the 
third-term  tradition,  was  not  a  candidate.  But  the 
policies  of  his  administration  supplied  everything  that 
the  party  needed  in  the  nature  of  a  platform,  and  so 
fruitful  had  been  his  activity  in  smoothing  the  way  for 
the  succession  of  Van  Buren  that  when,  in  May,  1835, 
the  party  convention  met  at  Baltimore  the  desired 
nomination  was  carried  by  unanimous  vote.  There 
was  no  occasion  for  surprise  when  in  his  letter  of  ac 
ceptance  Van  Buren  avowed  his  intent  "  to  tread  gen 
erally  in  the  footsteps  of  President  Jackson. "  Among 
the  opposition,  on  the  other  hand,  the  situation  was 

l"  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  257  :  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  p.  257. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    276 

one  of  distinct  complexity.  The  most  obvious  fact  was 
the  partially  accomplished  welding  of  the  anti-admin 
istration  forces  into  a  party  with  a  new  name,  i.  e., 
Whig.  The  name  Whig  was  first  employed  in  this 
connection  in  1834,  when  a  New  York  editor,  im 
pressed  by  the  resemblance  between  the  English  and 
the  American  opponents  of  prerogative,  applied  it  to 
those  persons,  chiefly  National  Bepublicans,  who  were 
crying  out  against  the  "  executive  usurpations  "  alleged 
to  be  practiced  by  Jackson.  The  principal  element 
entering  into  the  composition  of  the  Whig  party  of 
1836  was  the  National  Eeptiblicaus.  But  more  or 
less  closely  affiliated  were  men  of  other  and  widely 
varied  antecedents — principally  Autimasons,  South 
Carolina  "nullifiers,"  and  Democrats  who  were  un 
friendly  to  Jackson.  Among  these  groups  there  was 
little  community  of  interest  save  such  as  arose  from 
hostility  toward  the  President  and  his  system,  and 
plans  for  the  forthcoming  campaign  were  developed 
in  a  loose  and  unpromising  manner.  That  Clay,  still 
the  recognized  leader  of  the  preponderating  element  of 
the  opposition,  should  be  the  Whig  candidate  against 
Van  Buren  seemed  the  logic  of  the  situation.  Yet 
Clay  had  suffered  defeat  in  1832,  and  the  feeling  was 
wide-spread  that  some  other  candidate  might  now  be 
able  to  make  a  better  showing.  Against  him,  at  any 
rate,  there  were  brought  into  the  field  a  number  of 
local  favorites — Hugh  L.  White,  of  Tennessee,  General 
William  Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  John  McLean,  also 
of  Ohio  ;  and  among  the  number  was  Webster. 

The  movement  in  behalf  of  Webster's  candidacy 
dates  from  at  least  as  early  as  1834.  It  developed  first 
in  Massachusetts,  but  spread  throughout  New  Eng 
land,  and  eventually  somewhat  beyond.  In  the  legis- 


276  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

lature  of  Massachusetts  the  Whigs  commanded  a  sub 
stantial  majority,  and  toward  the  end  of  1834  it  was 
proposed  from  many  quarters  that,  in  default  of  other 
means  of  bringing  a  candidate  before  the  country,  th  is 
body  should  tender  Webster  a  formal  nomination. 
During  the  early  mouths  of  1835  Webster  was  in  fre 
quent  communication  with  Jeremiah  Mason  upon  tL.e 
subject.  On  January  1st  he  writes  :  "  Whether  it  is 
or  will  be  best  for  Massachusetts  to  act  at  all  on  tie 
subject  of  a  nomination  is  a  question  which  I  leave 
entirely  to  the  judgment  of  others.  .  .  .  A  nomi 
nation  by  Massachusetts  would  certainly  be  one  of  the 
highest  proofs  of  regard  which  any  citizen  can  receive. 
As  such,  I  should  most  undoubtedly  esteem  it.  But , 
in  the  present  condition  of  things,  and  with  the  proh- 
pects  which  are  before  us,  a  nomination  is  a  question 
able  thing  to  one  who  is  more  desirous  of  preserving 
what  little  reputation  he  has  than  anxious  to  grasp  at 
further  distinction."1  It  was  added  that  "if  Massa 
chusetts  is  to  act  at  all,  the  time  has  come  "  ;  for  active 
movements  were  on  foot  in  behalf  of  other  candidates. 
On  January  5th  there  came  a  letter  from  Abbott  Law 
rence  communicating  the  opinion  that  a  nomination 
was  certain  to  be  forthcoming  and  expressing  the  hopo 
that  Webster  would  not  be  influenced  by  it  to  resign 
his  seat  in  the  Senate.  January  22d  Webster  wrote  to 
Mason  that  the  nomination  of  McLean  in  Ohio  "ap 
pears  to  take  but  little,"  and  added  :  "  The  schism  in 
the  Jackson  party  proceeds.  It  appears  to  me  that 
nothing  is  likely  to  stop  its  progress.  If  we  Whigs 
had  union  and  energy,  we  have  now  before  us  a  pros 
pect  noway  discouraging."  The  expected  nomina 
tiou  was  made  near  the  end  of  January,  and  on  Feb 
1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  503.  "  Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  506 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    277 

ruary  1st  Webster  wrote  to  Mason  :  "  The  nomination 
appears  to  have  been  done  as  well  as  it  could  be.  I 
mean,  of  course,  in  the  manner  of  it.  No  fault  is 
found  with  it  by  our  friends,  so  far  as  I  know.  Meas 
ures  are  in  train  to  produce  a  correspondent  feeling 
and  action  in  New  York,  Vermont,  and  some  other 
states."1 

The  purposes  of  Clay  and  his  friends  remained  the 
most  elusive  factor  in  the  situation.  "Mr.  Clay," 
continued  Webster  in  the  letter  just  quoted,  "  does 
nothing,  and  will  do  nothing,  at  present.  He  thinks 
—or  perhaps  it  is  his  friends  who  think — that  something 
may  yet  occur,  perhaps  a  war,  which  may,  in  some 
way,  cause  a  general  rally  around  him.  ...  If 
Massachusetts  stands  steady,  and  our  friends  act  with 
prudence,  the  union  of  the  whole  Whig  and  Anti- 
inasonic  strength  is  certain.  Neither  you  nor  I  have 
ever  believed  it  would  be  easy  to  get  Southern  votes 
for  any  Northern  man  ;  and  I  think  the  prospect  now 
is  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  will  lose  the  whole  South." 
On  February  6th  Webster  addressed  Mason  at  some 
length  regarding  the  possibility  of  his  retirement  from 
the  Senate.  He  said  that  he  had  looked  forward  to 
the  events  which  the  approaching  election  might  bring 
about  as  likely  to  provide  a  suitable  occasion  for  his 
resignation,  although  he  had  reached  no  decision  which 
might  not  be  modified  by  the  advice  and  wishes  of 
friends.  "  I  do  not  affect,"  he  wrote,  "  to  desire  to  re 
tire  from  public  life,  and  to  resume  my  profession.  My 
habits,  I  must  confess,  and  the  nature  of  my  pursuits 
for  some  years,  render  it  more  agreeable  to  nie  to  attend 
to  political  than  to  professional  subjects.  But  I  have 
not  lost  all  relish  for  the  bar,  and  can  still  make  some- 
1  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  194. 


278  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

thing  by  the  practice  ;  and,  by  remaining  in  the 
Senate,  I  am  making  sacrifices  which  my  circumstances 
do  not  justify.  My  residence  here  at  Washington  so 
many  months  every  year  greatly  increases  my  expenses, 
and  greatly  reduces  my  income.  ...  I  find  it  ii  - 
convenient  to  push  my  practice  in  the  Supreme  Com  t 
while  a  member  of  the  Senate  ;  and  am  inclined,  under 
any  view  of  the  future,  to  decline  engagements  here 
after  in  that  Court,  unless  under  special  circum 
stances."  * 

*  Throughout  the  year  1835  the  political  outlook  con 
tinued  very  uncertain,  and  multiplied  evidences  of 
public  appreciation  of  Webster's  statesmanship  and 
services  to  his  country  gave  promise  of  a  possible 
agreement  upon  him  as  the  most  effective  candidate 
against  Van  Bureu.  In  March  he  declined  the  honor 
of  a  public  dinner  at  Harrisburg.  In  August  he  was 
prevailed  upon,  during  the  course  of  a  professional 
visit  to  Bangor,  to  address  the  citizens  of  that  place. 
On  October  12th  he  was  presented  with  a  magnificent 
vase  by  the  citizens  of  Boston,  and  in  the  presence  of 
four  thousand  people  assembled  in  the  Odeou  he  spoke 
at  some  length  upon  the  character  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  nature  of  the  perils  by  which  that  instrument 
was  beset.2  In  November  he  was  invited  to  a  public 
dinner  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  December  to  one  in 
Baltimore  ;  but  both  of  these  invitations  were  declined. 
From  numerous  quarters  came  flattering  assurances  of 
readiness  to  lend  support  in  a  campaign  for  the  pres 
idency.  The  tide  turned  unfavorably  however,  when, 


1  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  506. 

-"'Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  325-336  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  175-186.  The  vase  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  Boston  Public  Library. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AM)  WHIG  POLITICS    279 

in  December,  the  Whig  and  Antimasonic  conventions 
of  Pennsylvania,  assembled  at  Harrisburg,  placed  in 
nomination  General  Harrison.  The  Antiinasons  es 
pecially  had  felt  an  inclination  to  nominate  Webster. 
But  when  they  interrogated  him  upon  the  policy  which, 
if  elected,  he  would  pursue  regarding  appointments  to 
office  they  were  able  to  obtain  only  the  privately  ex 
pressed  reply  that  it  did  not  consist  with  his  sense  of 
duty  "to  hold  oat  promises,  or  anything  that  might 
be  regarded  as  equivalent  to  promises,  particularly  on 
the  eve  of  a  great  election,  the  results  of  which  are  to 
affect  the  highest  interests  of  the  country  for  years  to 
come. ' ' l  The  stand  thus  taken  was  eminently  states 
manlike,  but  it  did  not  appeal  to  the  hungry  horde, 
and  the  nomination  went  elsewhere. 

In  the  end  the  an ti- Jackson  forces  were  able  to  unite 
upon  no  one  candidate.  In  truth,  their  plan  of  cam 
paign  became  that  of  division  rather  than  of  unity,  the 
hope  being  that  the  splitting  of  the  vote  of  the  country 
among  a  number  of  sectional  favorites  would  have  the 
effect  of  throwing  the  election  into  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  where  a  turn  of  fortune  might  well  result 
in  the  triumph  of  some  one  of  Van  Buren7  s  opponents. 
The  scheme  was  ingenious,  but  it  fell  somewhat  short 
of  attaining  the  desired  result.  Its  success  was  condi 
tioned  upon  heavy  losses  of  votes  by  Van  Buren  to  his 
various  opponents  in  their  respective  sections  of  the 
country,  and  while  the  losses  suffered  were  consider 
able,  the  superior  discipline  of  the  Democratic  party 
served  to  avert  defeat.  Van  Buren  received  762,978 
popular  votes,  as  against  736,250  received  by  all  his 
opponents.  He  obtained  one  hundred  and  seventy 

1  Webster  to  W.  W.  Irwin,  November  30,  1835.  Curtis,  "  Web 
ster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  511, 


280  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

electoral  votes  aud  his  opponents  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-four, 
Harrison  received  seventy -three,  White  twenty-six, 
Webster  fourteen,  and  William  P.  Mangum  of  North 
Carolina  eleven.  It  had  been  hoped  that  Webster 
might  receive  the  votes  of  at  least  some  of  the  New 
England  states  other  than  Massachusetts.  He,  how 
ever,  failed  to  do  so.  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode 
Island,  and  Connecticut  were  carried  by  the  Demo 
crats,  while  the  seven  votes  of  Vermont  went  to  Har 
rison.  That  Webster  already  cherished  a  well -defined 
ambition  to  attain  the  presidency  is  beyond  dispute. 
But  he  could  never  have  regarded  the  situation  in  1830 
as  really  favorable,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  the 
result  was  a  source  of  either  surprise  or  lasting  disap 
pointment  on  his  part. 

Circumstances  so  shaped  themselves  that  the  subject 
of  dominating  interest  throughout  the  years  of  the  ad 
ministration  of  President  Van  Buren  was  that  oi' 
finance.  Despite  the  fact  that  as  late  as  the  beginning 
of  1837  the  business  of  the  country  seemed  highly  pros 
perous,  before  the  retirement  of  Jackson  two  mouths 
later  there  set  in,  beginning  in  the  South  and  spread 
ing  northward,  the  most  ruinous  and  far-reaching 
crisis  the  country  had  ever  known.  The  causes  were 
numerous  and  complex.  Excessive  speculation,  reck 
less  banking,  inflation  of  prices,  and  the  failure  of  cer 
tain  English  firms  engaged  in  the  cotton  trade  were 
among  them.  In  some  degree  they  are  to  be  traced, 
too,  to  the  financial  expedients  of  the  Jacksonian  pe 
riod — the  withdrawal  of  the  deposits,  the  termination 
of  the  Bank,  the  distribution  of  the  surplus,  and, 
finally,  the  promulgation  of  the  Specie  Circular.  The 
last-mentioned  measure,  comprising  an  executive  order 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    281 

under  date  of  July  11,  1836,  requiring  that  after 
August  15th  only  gold  and  silver  should  be  received 
at  the  laud-offices  in  payment  for  public  lands,  had  the 
effect  of  augmenting  enormously  the  difficulties  of  the 
banks  in  the  West,  where  specie  was  scarce,  and  when 
Congress  assembled  for  the  session  of  1837-1838  a  res 
olution  was  introduced  undertaking  to  rescind  it.  On 
December  21st  Webster  spoke  at  length  upon  this  res 
olution,  pronouncing  the  Circular  both  illegal  and  in 
jurious  and  explaining  in  detail  his  long-cherished 
ideas  upon  the  proper  relations  of  the  government  and 
the  currency.1  The  resolution  was  converted  into  a  bill, 
which  passed  both  houses,  but  Jackson  withheld  from 
it  his  assent,  and  the  Circular  remained  in  effect  until 
May  21,  1838,  when  it  was  rescinded  by  a  joint  resolu 
tion.  When,  March  4,  1837,  Van  Buren  assumed 
office,  the  country  was  already  in  the  throes  of  busi 
ness  depression  and  financial  distress.  As  a  temporary 
expedient  quantities  of  Treasury  notes  were  issued 
forthwith,  and  Congress  was  summoned  to  meet  in 
special  session  September  4th. 

Some  months  prior  to  the  inauguration  of  Van 
Buren,  Webster  renewed  his  determination  to  retire 
from  public  life,  and  at  the  close  of  January,  1837,  his 
purpose  was  made  known  to  his  friends  in  Massachu 
setts,  to  the  end  that  steps  might  be  taken  to  ensuro 
the  election  of  his  successor  while  the  legislature 
should  yet  be  in  session.  Not  only  in  his  own  state, 
however,  but  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  the  an 
nouncement  called  forth  strong  expressions  of  regret, 
and  a  committee  of  the  Whigs  in  the  Massachusetts 
legislature  made  a  formal  request  that  the  contem- 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  265-291  ;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  3-29. 


282  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

plated  resignation  be  abandoned,  or  at  the  least  post 
poned.  The  pressure  brought  to  bear  was  too  power 
ful  to  be  resisted,  and  for  the  time  being  the  plan  was 
given  up,  although  the  need  of  bestowing  undivided 
attention  for  a  period  upon  private  and  professional 
interests  was  felt  to  be  imperative.  On  February  21st, 
when  the  resignation  was  impending,  a  meeting  of 
Webster's  political  friends,  presided  over  by  Chancellor 
Kent,  was  held  in  New  York  City  and  an  invitation 
was  extended  to  a  public  reception.  The  invitation 
was  accepted,  and  on  the  evening  of  March  15th  the 
senator  was  greeted  by  a  large,  representative,  and 
highly  enthusiastic  gathering  of  people  at  Mblo's 
Garden.  The  reception  became  the  occasion  of  the 
most  notable  speech  of  a  purely  political  character 
which  Webster  ever  delivered.  To  no  other  effort 
did  he  refer  in  later  times  with  so  much  frequency  or 
so  much  pride.  In  the  main,  the  speech  comprised  a 
detailed  and  analytical  review  of  public  questions  and 
measures  since  the  accession  of  Jackson  to  the  presi 
dency.  Its  tone  was  moderate  but  frank.  The  per 
sonal  integrity  of  the  late  President  was  freely 
admitted,  and  the  service  which  he  had  rendered 
the  country  in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  was 
acknowledged  with  unstinted  praise.  At  the  same 
time,  his  executive  usurpations,  it  was  maintained, 
had  produced  a  complete  and  well-nigh  irreparable 
derangement  of  the  currency  and  of  business ; 
and  it  was  predicted  that  results  would  be  ex 
perienced  far  worse  than  those  which  as  yet  were 
apparent.  Among  the  portions  of  the  speech  deal 
ing  with  subjects  other  than  finance  the  most  note 
worthy  was  that  in  which,  apropos  the  question 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  speaker  gave  force- 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    283 

ful  expression  to  his  views  on  slavery  and  its  ex 
tension.  To  this  matter  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
return  subsequently.1 

Two  months  after  the  appearance  at  Niblo's  Garden 
Webster  set  out  upon  his  last  and  most  extended  visit 
to  the  West.  At  Wheeling,  May  17th,  he  was  ten 
dered  a  public  dinner,  and  the  news  of  the  suspension 
of  the  Eastern  banks  having  just  been  received,  he 
spoke  feelingly  of  a  situation  which  he  had  "never 
expected  to  see  except  as  the  result  of  war,  a  pesti 
lence,  or  some  other  calamity. "  At  Maysville,  Lex 
ington,  Louisville,  and  Cincinnati  there  were  great 
outpourings  of  people  and  more  speeches.  On  June 
9th,  St.  Louis  was  reached,  and  there  and  in  neighbor 
ing  towns  the  reception  was  equally  enthusiastic. 
Madison,  Indiana,  was  visited,3  and  thence  the  line  of 
travel  led  to  Chicago,  where  there  were  cavalcades, 
festivals,  and  public  addresses.  On  July  1st  Michigan 
City  was  readied,  and  thence  a  return  was  made  to 
Massachusetts  by  way  of  Detroit,  Toledo,  Buffalo,  and 
New  York.  One  effect  of  the  journey  was  to  impress 
upon  the  people  of  the  West  the  approachableness  and 
democratic  spirit  of  a  man  who  in  many  quarters  was 
still  supposed  to  be  temperamentally  cold  and  aristo 
cratic.  In  WTebster  himself  the  trip  deepened  the  con 
viction  of  the  actual  and  latent  resources  of  the  West. 
Already  he  had  embarked  upon  a  plan  to  acquire  a 
great  Western  farm.  He  had  become  owner  of  a  tract 
of  land  in  Sangarnon  County,  Illinois,  to  which  he 

'See  pp.  327-336.  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  343-380 ; 
"  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  193-230. 

2 "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  384  ;  "Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  II,  p.  234. 

3  For  the  speech  delivered  at  Madison  see  u  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  257-259. 


284  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

gave  the  name  Salisbury,  and  had  placed  upon  it  as 
agent  a  son  of  the  Mr.  Thomas  from  whom  he  had 
purchased  a  portion  of  his  estate  at  Marshfield.1  Now 
he  proposed  to  add  to  his  Illinois  holding  until  he 
should  have  at  least  a  thousand  acres,  and  he  even 
dreamed  of  establishing  himself  upon  it  at  some  future 
time,  when  he  should  be  in  a  position  to  withdraw 
from  public  and  professional  life. 

When,  September  4th,  Congress  assembled  in  special 
session  President  Van  Buren  brought  forward  a  num 
ber  of  proposals  for  the  relief  of  the  country's  disordered 
finances.  One  was  the  postponement  of  the  payment 
to  the  states  of  the  fourth  instalment  of  the  surplus 
revenue.  Another  was  the  issue  of  more  Treasury 
notes.  The  third  and  most  important  was  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  system  in  accordance  with  which  the 
public  revenues,  instead  of  being  deposited  in  banks, 
of  whatsoever  description,  should  be  kept  in  the  cus 
tody  of  Treasury  officials.  As  expanded  in  subsequent 
discussion,  this  proposition  developed  into  the  well- 
known  Sub-treasury,  or  Independent  Treasury,  system. 
The  essentials  of  it  had  been  suggested  by  Van  Buren 
as  early  as  1834.  A  bill  incorporating  the  plan  was 
introduced  in  Congress  September  14th.  Over  the  op 
position  of  the  Whigs,  who  now  revived  the  project 
of  a  national  bank,  it  was  passed  in  the  Senate  ;  but 
in  the  House  it  failed,  and  although  eventually  the 
President  was  successful  in  carrying  his  programme 
into  effect,  it  was  not  until  July  4th,  1840,  and  only 
after  three  successive  measures  upon  the  subject  had 
been  defeated.  The  debates  upon  the  first  two  of  these 
bills  were  enlivened  by  two  lengthy  and  illuminating 
speeches  by  Webster.  The  first  was  delivered  Sep- 
1  See  p.  317. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  WHIG  POLITICS    285 

teinber  28,  1837  ;  the  second,  January  31,  1838. !  Both 
included  attacks  upon  the  proposed  Independent 
Treasury  system,  and  in  both  the  Whig  alternative 
of  a  national  bank  was  defended  with  fulness  and 
force. 

1  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  VII,  pp.  62-108,  140-161. 


CHAPTEE  XI 

SECRETARY   OF  STATE  :   THE  TREATY   OF  WASHINGTON 

DURING  the  spring  of  1839  Webster  arrived  at  a 
decision  to  spend  some  months  in  travel  abroad,  prin 
cipally  in  England.  At  one  time  there  appeared 
much  likelihood  of  his  appointment  as  a  special  envoy 
to  Great  Britain  to  negotiate  a  settlement  of  the  long 
standing  controversy  regarding  the  northeastern  boun 
dary.  The  Secretary  of  State,  Forsyth,  suggested  to 
the  President  the  making  of  such  an  appointment, 
and  in  order  to  commend  himself  as  a  person  qualified 
to  undertake  the  task  Webster  prepared  and  submitted 
an  elaborate  memorandum  upon  the  proper  course  to 
be  pursued  in  adjustment  of  the  matters  at  issue.1 
The  President  was  authorized  specifically  by  Congress 
to  make  the  proposed  appointment.  Van  Buren,  how 
ever,  preferred  to  allow  the  negotiation  to  be  carried 
on  by  the  resident  minister  (Stevenson)  exclusively, 
and,  although  by  a  curious  turn  of  circumstances  the 
opportunity  to  undertake  the  adjustment  of  the  pend 
ing  difficulties  with  Great  Britain  came  to  Webster  as 
Secretary  of  State  within  two  years,  there  was  no 
present  demand  for  his  services. 

Even  so,  he  resolved  upon  a  trip  as  a  private  citizen, 
and,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  his  daughter  Julia,  and 
a  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Paige,  he  embarked  at  New  York, 
May  18th,  and  lauded  at  Liverpool  a  fortnight  later. 
On  June  5th  the  party  journeyed  by  rail,  expending 

1  Van  Tyiie,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.  215-218. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  287 

ten  and  a  half  hours  on  the  way,  to  London,  where  on 
the  morning  following  the  arrival  the  streets  adjacent 
to  the  Brunswick  Hotel  were  thronged  with  the  car 
riages  of  substantial  citizens  eager  for  a  glimpse  of  the 
far-famed  orator  and  statesman.  During  a  two  mouths' 
stay  in  the  metropolis  Webster  was  showered  with 
hospitalities.  He  met  Wordsworth,  Carlyle,  Moore, 
Dickens,  Sydney  Smith,  Hallam,  Canning,  Labouchere, 
and  scores  of  other  men  of  eminence.  He  visited  the 
various  higher  courts,  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
judges,  and  was  an  interested  spectator  at  numerous 
sittings  of  the  two  houses  of  Parliament.  "  I  do  not 
follow  sightseeing,"  he  writes  to  a  friend;  "what 
conies  in  the  way  I  look  at,  but  have  not  time  to  hunt 
after  pictures,  etc.  Westminster  Abbey  and  the  Tower 
are  two  of  the  best  things  ;  they  hold  such  memorials 
of  bygone  times." l  On  July  18th  a  celebration  of  the 
Eoyal  Agricultural  Society  was  attended  at  Oxford, 
and  upon  this  one  occasion  during  the  trip  Webster 
was  induced  to  make  a  public  address.2  In  August 
there  was  an  excursion  through  Scotland,  followed  by 
a  return  to  London  where,  September  24th,  the 
daughter  w;is  married  to  a  young  Bostonian,  Samuel 
Appletou,  who,  in  accordance  with  an  earlier  arrange 
ment,  had  joined  the  party.  Late  in  November  the 
travelers  embarked  for  the  homeward  voyage,  which, 
however,  proved  so  protracted  that  it  was  not  until 
December  29th  that  a  landing  was  effected  at  New 
York. 

The  impression  which  Webster  made  upon  his  Eng 
lish  acquaintances  was  deep  and  lasting.     "  Not  many 

1  Webster   to  Curtis,  July  4,    1839.      Webster,  4<  Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  55. 

2  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  285-289. 


288  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

days  ago,"  wrote  Thomas  Carlyle  to  an  American 
friend,  UI  saw  at  breakfast  the  notablest  of  all  your 
notabilities,  Daniel  Webster.  He  is  a  magnificent 
specimen.  .  .  .  As  a  logic-fencer,  advocate,  or 
parliamentary  Hercules,  one  would  incline  to  back  hinr 
at  first  sight  against  all  the  extant  world.  The  tanned 
complexion  ;  that  amorphous  crag-like  face  ;  the  dull 
black  eyes  under  the  precipice  of  brows,  like  dull 
anthracite  furnaces  needing  only  to  be  Mown;  the 
mastiff- mouth,  accurately  closed  ;  I  have  not  traced  so 
much  of  silent  Berserkir  rage  that  I  remember  of  in  any 
other  man  ;  a  dignified,  perfectly -bred  man,  though  not 
English  in  breeding  ;  a  man  worthy  of  the  best  recep 
tion  among  us,  and  meeting  such,  I  understand." 
'*  It  is  but  an  echo  of  the  common  voice  here,"  wrote 
Hallam  to  Mrs.  Ticknor,  "  to  say  that  I  was  extremely 
struck  by  his  [Webster's]  appearance,  deportment, 
and  conversation.  Mr.  Webster  approaches  as  nearly 
to  the  beau  ideal  of  a  republican  senator  as  any  man 
that  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  course  of  my  life  ;  worthy 
of  Home  or  Venice,  rather  than  of  our  noisy  and 
wrangling  generation." 

It  is  the  testimony  of  an  English  acquaintance  that 
during  his  stay  in  London  Webster  talked  continually 
of  his  intention  to  quit  public  life,  both  professional 
and  political,  and  to  retire  to  the  estate  which  he  had 
purchased  in  the  West.  "  He  spoke  of  this  as  a  set 
tied  resolve.  With  these  words  on  his  lips,  he  em 
barked  at  Liverpool."3  However  seriously  he  may 
have  contemplated  the  step  at  certain  moments,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  there  was  ever  a  fixed  resolution  upon 

1  Cited  in  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  21. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  27. 

3  Denisoo,  quoted  in  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  27. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  289 

it,  and  in  any  case  the  development  of  the  political 
situation  which  culminated  in  the  election  of  General 
Harrison  as  president  in  1840  absolutely  precluded  it. 
Webster  was  himself  not  a  candidate  in  1840.  His 
candidacy  was  proposed  by  the  Whig  members  of  the 
Massachusetts  legislature  ;  but,  prior  to  sailing  for  Eng 
land,  in  May,  1839,  he  made  it  known  to  his  friends 
that  he  did  not  care  to  have  his  name  brought  before 
the  forthcoming  convention  of  the  party.  During  the 
sojourn  abroad  he  heard  little  and  talked  less  of  Ameri 
can  political  affairs.  "I  express  no  opinion  to  any 
body,"  he  wrote  from  Glasgow  in  August,  "about  the 
pending  election.  I  see  enough  to  convince  me  that 
our  affairs  at  home  are  in  a  very  bad  and  difficult 
state,  and  I  do  not  profess  to  know  who  was  born  to 
set  them  right."  l 

As  the  administration  of  Van  Buren  progressed  there 
were  multiplied  indications  that  the  Whigs  would  have 
an  excellent  chance  of  success  iu  1840.  To  the  wide 
spread  desire  for  reform  and  the  more  or  less  vague 
desire  for  change  which  almost  inevitably  accompanies 
a  prolongation  of  power  in  the  hands  of  one  political 
party  there  was  added  in  the  present  instance  a  very 
definite  longing  for  relief  from  the  chaos  and  depres 
sion  in  which  the  fiscal  measures  of  the  Jacksouian 
regime  had  involved  the  country.  Van  Buren's  states 
manship  was  of  no  mean  order,  his  integrity  was  unim 
peachable,  and  his  administration  of  public,  including 
financial,  affairs  was  very  nearly  as  effective  as  could 
have  been  expected  under  the  circumstances.  The  mass 
of  the  people,  none  the  less,  were  ready  for  a  change. 
The  state  elections  of  1837  resulted  unfavorably  for  the 

1  Webster  to  Ketchnm,  August  29, 1839.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence, "  Vol.  II,  p.  65. 


290  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Democrats,  and  the  congressional  elections  of  1838  and 
the  spring  of  1839  very  nearly  resulted  in  the  extinc 
tion  of  the  Administration  majority  in  the  lower 
house.  On  December  4,  1839,  two  days  after  the 
meeting  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Congress,  the  national 
convention  of  the  Whig  party  assembled  at  Harris- 
burg.  The  conditions  of  the  time  were  such  as  to 
place  a  heavy  premium  upon  "  availability,"  and  the 
members  of  the  convention  were  disposed  from  the  out 
set  to  be  governed  in  their  choice  of  a  candidate  by  this 
consideration.  Clay  was  still  the  principal  leader  of 
the  party.  But  he  was  a  free-mason  and  an  ardent 
protectionist,  and  it  was  felt  that  his  position  in  these 
two  respects  would  render  his  election  improbable.  A 
candidate  much  more  nearly  of  the  type  called  for  was 
at  hand  Lin  the  person  of  General  Harrison,  long  and 
favorably  known  both  as  soldier  and  civilian,  and  ex 
cellently  qualified  to  consolidate  the  diverse  elements 
upon  whose  support  the  Whigs  must  depend  for  suc 
cess.  When  the  balloting  began  Clay  led,  but  on  the 
third  day  of  the  convention's  proceedings  the  nomina 
tion  was  accorded  to  Harrison.  In  the  hope  of  at 
tracting  in  a  special  degree  the  support  of  the  South 
the  delegates  bestowed  the  vice-presidential  nomina 
tion  upon  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia.  Clay  accepted  the 
situation  with  good  grace  and  promised  his  unreserved 
support,  although  he  was  deeply  disappointed  and, 
after  the  successful  conclusion  of  the  campaign,  a  trifle 
disaffected. 

The  first  news  received  by  Webster  as  his  ship  came 
into  New  York  harbor,  December  29th,  was  that  of 
the  action  of  the  Harrisburg  convention.  This  action 
he  thoroughly  approved,  and  the  contest  which  ensued 
enlisted  from  the  beginning  his  hearty  interest. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  291 

Amidst  the  swirl  of  political  combat  all  thought  of 
immediate  retirement  from  the  Senate  was  abandoned. 
The  campaign,  as  is  familiarly  known,  was  one  of  the 
noisiest  and  most  exciting  in  the  country's  history. 
Having  been  unable  to  agree  upon  a  platform,  the 
Whigs  contented  themselves  with  attacks  upon  the 
Democratic  candidates  and  with  laudation  of  Harrison 
and  Tyler.  The  Democrats  made  some  effort  to  press 
the  reelection  of  Yan  Buren  on  the  strength  of  the 
record  of  the  administration,  but  in  the  end  they  were 
obliged  largely  to  meet  the  Whigs  with  their  own 
methods.  To  Webster  there  came  calls  for  speeches 
from  every  portion  of  the  country.  Whig  mass-meet 
ings  and  conventions,  especially  in  the  East,  were 
hardly  considered  successful  unless  he  was  present  to 
speak,  and  the  number  of  "Tippecauoe"  clubs  and 
similar  organizations  in  which  he  was  elected  to 
honorary  membership  was  legion.  In  the  history  of 
the  nation  there  had  been  no  such  universal  popular 
wish  to  hear  public  topics  discussed  by  any  single 
statesman.1  The  places  at  which  Webster  delivered 
political  addresses  of  largest  importance  during  the 
campaign  were  Saratoga,  Charlestowu  (Mass.),  New 
York,  and  Eichmond,  and  upon  all  occasions  the  prin 
cipal  subject  discussed  was  the  unfortunate  situation 
of  the  currency  resulting  from  the  fiscal  policies  of  the 
Jackson  and  Van  Buren  administrations.2 

Of  the  success  of  the  campaign  Webster  was  most  of 
the  time  reasonably  certain.  "  We  shall  choose  Gen 
eral  Harrison,"  he  writes  as  early  as  February  16, 
1840,  "if  no  untoward  event  occurs  between  this  time 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  42. 

2  For  these  speeches  see,  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp. 
1-102. 


292  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  November."  '  "  General  Harrison's  nomination 
runs  through  the  country  most  astonishingly,"  he 
writes,  March  29th.  "  Our  friends  feel  confident  of 
the  Centre,  the  Northwest,  and  the  North  and  East. 
Kentucky  and  Louisiana  will  doubtless  be  with  us  ; 
very  probably  Tennessee,  and  there  are  even  hopes  of 
Virginia.  .  .  .  This  hopeful  state  of  things  gives 
quite  a  new  aspect  to  our  politics."  June  llth,  he  de 
clares  that  he  does  "not  doubt  that  General  Harrison 
will  be  elected  by  a  very  large  majority  "  and  ex 
presses  the  hope  that  his  native  state  of  New  Hamp 
shire  "will  now  see  the  path  of  patriotism  and  duty, 
broad  and  plain  before  her,  and  be  ready  to  follow  it." 
June  23d  he  writes  to  Jaudou  :  * '  The  prospect  is  now 
very  strong  that  General  Harrison  will  be  elected. 
Indeed,  we  have  no  doubt  of  it.  We  are  more  de 
ceived  than  ever  men  were  before,  if  there  be  not  a 
state  of  feeling  which  will  bring  him  in  by  a  large  ma 
jority.  .  .  .  And  now,  my  dear  sir,  let  me  say 
that  if  this  event  shall  take  place,  it  will  change  my 
condition,  though  I  cannot  say  exactly  how.  Indeed, 
some  changes,  or  a  change,  will  take  place,  let  the 
election  go  either  way.  If  Mr.  Van  Buren  should  be 
reflected,  I  shall  go  back  to  the  bar,  leaving  the  Senate, 
and  go  to  work  with  all  my  might.  If  General  Har 
rison  should  be  chosen,  I  shall  equally  leave  the 
Senate,  and  you  can  judge  as  well  as  I,  perhaps, 
whether  I  shall  thenceforward  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  government,  or  not." 


1  Webster   to  Edward  Everett,    February  16,  1840.      Webster, 
"  Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  II.  p.  76. 
'Webster  to  Jaudon.  March  29.  1840.      Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  79. 

3  Webster  to  Coffin,  June  11,  1840.     Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  86. 

4  Webster  to  Jaudon,  June  23,  1840.     Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  87. 


TREATY  OF  WASHINGTON  293 

At  the  November  elections  the  confidence  of  Web- 
ster,  and  of  the  Whig  prophets  generally,  was  vindi 
cated.  In  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- four 
electoral  votes  Harrison  received  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four,  Van  Buren  but  sixty  ;  while  in  the  lower 
house  of  Congress  the  Whigs  were  assured  a  majority 
of  forty-four,  and  in  the  upper  house  of  seven.  The 
overturn  which  was  involved  seemed  to  men  of  the 
time  a  veritable  revolution.  In  point  of  fact,  however, 
in  most  of  the  states  carried  by  Harrison  the  Whig 
popular  majority  was  small,  and  the  total  popular  ma 
jority  was  but  145,914  in  an  aggregate  vote  of  2,404,- 
118.  The  victory  was  substantial,  but  it  was  not  over 
whelming,  and  only  by  the  preservation  of  harmony 
and  the  pursuance  of  wise  and  moderate  policies  could 
its  results  be  conserved.  On  December  1st  the  Presi 
dent-elect  wrote  from  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  a  letter 
to  Webster  from  which  it  appears  that  certain  pur 
poses  relative  to  the  formation  of  a  cabinet,  in  the 
event  of  a  Whig  triumph,  had  been  conceived  early  in 
the  campaign.  One  of  these  was  to  offer  a  portfolio  to 
Clay  ;  another  was  to  make  a  similar  offer  to  Webster. 
It  was  now  made  known  that  the  post  of  secretary  of 
state  had  been  tendered  to  Clay,  but  that  this  and 
every  other  position  of  the  sort  had  been  declined. 
"  Since  I  was  first  a  candidate  for  the  presidency," 
Harrison  went  on  to  say,  "I  had  determined,  if  suc 
cessful,  to  solicit  your  able  assistance  in  conducting  the 
administration,  and  I  now  ask  you  to  accept  the  State 
or  Treasury  department.  I  have  myself  no  preference 
of  either  for  you,  but  it  may  perhaps  be  more  difficult 
to  fill  the  latter  than  the  former  if  you  should  decline 
it.  It  was  the  first  designed  for  you  in  the  supposition 
that  you  had  given  more  attention  to  the  subject  of 


294  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

finances  than  Mr.  Clay."  '  In  the  event  that  he  should 
feel  obliged  to  decline  to  enter  the  cabinet  Webster  was 
asked  to  make  suggestions  regarding  other  men  avail 
able  for  appointment.  "  Give  me  your  advice  freely 
and  fully,"  wrote  Harrison,  "  upon  that  and  every 
other  subject,  whether  you  occupy  a  place  in  the 
cabinet  or  not,  and  it  will  be  at  all  times  thankfully 
received." 

The  possibility  of  the  offer  of  a  cabinet  position,  in 
the  event  of  the  election  of  Harrison,  had  received 
ample  consideration  from  both  Webster  and  his  friends. 
Interests  of  a  professional  and  personal  nature  seemed 
still  to  require  a  retirement  from  public  life,  and,  as 
has  appeared,  such  a  step  was  more  than  once  deter 
mined  upon.  Few  men,  however,  have  ever  been  bet 
ter  fitted  for  the  public  service,  and,  much  asheniighl 
try,  Webster  could  never  get  away  from  the  fact  that 
he  enjoyed  the  activities  and  opportunities  of  such 
service.  Long  before  the  election  he  was  urged  by  in 
fluential  men  in  various  parts  of  the  country  not  to  re 
fuse  a  cabinet  post  if  it  should  be  offered  him,  and 
when  it  became  known  that  the  President-elect  had 
made  the  expected  offer  there  was  a  universal  expres 
sion  of  desire  that  it  be  accepted.  Although,  there 
fore,  he  should  have  preferred  an  appointment  as  min 
ister  to  Great  Britain,  he  decided  to  accept  the  portfolio 
of  state.  "I  am  willing,"  he  wrote  to  Harrison,  De 
cember  llth,  "to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  office, 
prepared  to  give  to  their  faithful  discharge  my  best 
ability  and  all  my  efforts.  You  are  kind  enough  to 
suggest  that  my  acquaintance  with  the  subjects  of  cur 
rency  and  finance  might  render  me  useful  as  head  of 

1  Harrison  to  Webster,  December  1,1840.  Webster,  "Private 
Correspondence, "  Vol.  II,  p.  91. 


TEEATY  OP  WASHINGTON  295 

the  Treasury.  On  that  subject  my  view  has  been  this : 
I  think  all  important  questions  of  revenue,  finance,  and 
currency,  properly  belonging  to  the  Executive,  should 
be  cabinet  questions ;  that  every  member  of  the  cab 
inet  should  give  them  his  best  consideration,  and  es 
pecially  that  the  results  of  these  deliberations  should 
receive  the  sanction  of  the  President.  This  seems 
necessary  to  union  and  efficiency  of  action.  If  to  these 
counsels  I  may  be  supposed  able  to  contribute  anything 
useful,  I  shall  withhold  myself  from  no  degree  of  labor 
and  no  j  ust  responsibility.  For  the  daily  details  of 
the  Treasury,  the  matters  of  account,  and  the  supervi 
sion  of  subordinate  officers  employed  in  the  collection 
and  disbursement  of  the  public  moneys,  I  do  not  think 
myself  to  be  particularly  well  qualified."1  Willing 
ness  was  expressed  to  accept  the  Treasury  portfolio, 
however,  in  the  event  that  special  difficulty  should  be 
encountered  in  making  provision  for  it.  On  December 
27th  Webster  was  informed  by  his  chief  that,  so  far  as 
could  be  observed,  his  call  to  the  State  Department  had 
given  universal  satisfaction. 

The  last  session  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Congress  was 
one  of  comparative  unimportance.  At  its  opening 
President  Van  Buren  submitted  a  message  in  which 
the  Whig  proposal  to  establish  a  national  bank  was 
subjected  to  severe  criticism  and  the  recently  adopted 
sub-treasury  system  was  accorded  the  highest  praise. 
In  the  Senate  the  portions  of  the  message  dealing  with 
these  subjects  were  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  and  on  December  16th  and  17th,  they  were 
made  the  basis  of  the  last  important  speech  which 
Webster  delivered  during  the  present  portion  of  his 

1  Webster  to  Harrison,  December  11,  1840.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  93-94. 


296  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

senatorial  career.  In  it  the  existing  state  of  tho 
finances  of  the  country  was  reviewed  briefly  but  point 
edly,  and  it  was  maintained  that  during  the  past  four 
years  the  public  expenditure  had  exceeded  the  public 
income  by  as  much  as  seven  million  dollars  a  year,  sc 
that  the  Van  Buren  Administration  had  achievec 
"  the  dubious  distinction  of  being  the  first  to  begin  the 
accumulating  of  a  national  debt  in  a  time  of  profound 
peace. ' ' ] 

On  February  22d,  Webster's  letter  resigning  hi.-, 
seat  was  read  in  the  Senate.  In  advance  of  his  resig 
nation  he  communicated  to  his  friends  in  Massachu 
setts  his  desire  that  the  choice  of  his  successor  should 
proceed  without  any  reference  to  his  own  opinions  or 
affiliations,  and  he  especially  urged  that  the  coolness 
long  existing  between  himself  and  John  Quincy  Adams 
should  not  be  allowed  to  militate  against  the  candi 
dacy  of  the  Ex-President.  "Mr.  Adams's  great 
knowledge  arid  ability,"  he  wrote,  "his  experience, 
and  especially  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
foreign  relations  of  the  country,  will  undoubtedly 
make  him  prominent  as  a  candidate  ;  and  I  wish  it  to 
be  understood  that  his  election  would  be  personally 
altogether  agreeable  to  me.'7  2  In  the  end  the  choice 
of  the  legislature  fell  upon  Eufus  Choate,  and  Adams 
was  continued  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Represent 
atives  ;  but  the  magnanimity  displayed  toward  a  can 
didate  against  whom  Webster  and  his  friends  had  long 
cherished  a  grievance  is  not  unworthy  of  note. 

With    the    inauguration   of  Harrison    and    Tyler, 

!"  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  40-54;  "Writings  am! 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IX,  pp.  40-54. 

2 Webster  to  Solomon  Lincoln,  Jan.  16,  1871.  Curtis,  "Web 
ster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  57. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  297 

March  4,  1841,  the  Whigs  were  brought  for  the  first 
time  into  control  of  the  national  government.  The 
new  president  had  written  feelingly  of  his  hope  for  a 
" quiet  and  successful"  administration.  The  condi 
tions  of  the  time,  however,  hardly  afforded  ground  for 
high  expectation  in  this  direction.  In  the  first  place, 
the  political  overturn  which  had  occurred  presaged  a 
stupendous  demand  for  removals  and  new  appoint 
ments  throughout  the  government  service.  In  the 
second  place,  the  Whig  successes  had  been  won  by 
narrow  margins,  and,  as  has  been  stated,  the  majority 
commanded  by  the  party  in  Congress,  especially  in  the 
upper  house,  was  so  slender  that  absolute  harmony 
was  essential  to  the  achievement  of  legislative  results 
and  the  maintenance  of  power.  But,  in  the  third 
place,  substantial  harmony  was  the  last  thing  to  be  ex 
pected  of  the  heterogeneous  elements  which  had  had  a 
share  in  the  winning  of  the  recent  victory.  And, 
finally,  the  death  of  the  President  within  a  month 
from  his  inauguration  brought  to  the  White  House  a 
man  whose  nomination  by  the  Whigs  had  been  a 
matter  of  sheer  expediency,  who  was  really  not  a 
Whig  at  all,  and  who  had  sufficient  independence  of 
spirit  to  prompt  him  to  a  course  of  action  conceived 
without  the  slightest  regard  to  party  obligation. 

Of  the  tremendous  conflict  which  was  waged,  during 
the  years  1841-1842,  between  President  Tyler  and  the 
Whig  congressional  majority,  led  by  Henry  Clay,  it  is 
impossible  to  speak  at  length  in  this  place.  Prior  to 
his  death  President  Harrison  had  called  a  special  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  to  convene  May  31,  1841,  and  it  was 
early  in  the  course  of  this  session  that  the  storm  broke 
in  all  of  its  fury.  On  June  7th,  Clay  introduced  in 
the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions,  which,  setting  forth 


298  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

as  they  did  the  legislative  programme  of  the  Whig 
leaders,  may  well  be  regarded  as  a  belated  announce 
ment  of  the  Whig  platform  of  1840. 1  These  resolutions 
called,  in  brief,  for  the  repeal  of  the  sub -treasury  lav, 
the  establishment  of  a  national  bank,  the  laying  of 
duties  such  as  would  yield  revenue  adequate  for  tLe 
increased  needs  of  the  country,  and  the  distribution 
among  the  states  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public 
laud.  The  Senate  passed  immediately  a  measure  to 
meet  the  first  of  these  demands  ;  but  the  issue  which 
was  pressed  most  forcefully — and  the  one  which,  by 
reason  of  the  President's  well-known  hostility,  was 
certain  to  prove  the  most  critical — was  that  of  the 
Bank. 

Removed  from  Congress,  and  fully  occupied  with  a 
group  of  diplomatic  questions  of  the  utmost  serious 
ness,  Webster  was  in  a  position  to  hold  aloof,  at  least 
publicly,  from  participation  in  the  domestic  conflicts  of 
the  hour.  His  most  immediate  concern  was  the  carry 
ing  through  of  the  adjustments  which  were  required 
to  safeguard  peace  with  Great  Britain.  In  the  execu 
tion  of  this  task  he  needed  the  full  and  free  coopera 
tion  of  the  President,  and  he  early  learned  that  agree 
able  relations  with  his  chief  would  be  jeopardized  by 
any  attempt  to  influence  the  executive  attitude  upon 
impending  domestic  issues.  Although,  therefore,  he 
felt  most  keenly  the  desirability  of  the  incorporation 
of  a  bank,  the  subject  was  rarely  so  much  as  mentioned 
in  the  frequent  conferences  between  the  two  men.  It 
was  alluded  to  repeatedly,  however,  in  correspondence 
with  friends  in  Massachusetts  and  elsewhere.  "We 
are  in  the  midst  of  the  session, "  wrote  Webster  to  Ed 
ward  Everett,  July  24th,  "  and  I  may  say  in  the  crisis 
Garrison,  "  Westward  Extension,"  p.  58. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  299 

of  our  affairs.  If  we  get  along  with  the  bank  bill, 
bankrupt  bill,  land  bill,  and  revenue  bill,  all  which 
are  on  the  tapis,  we  shall  stand  strong  with  the  public. 
But  some  of  these  measures  are  of  doubtful  result. 
The  great  difficulty  consists  in  producing  and  main 
taining  harmony  of  action  among  the  Whigs."  l 

The  ensuing  month  revealed,  however,  that  the 
principal  obstacle  to  be  overcome  was  not  the  tendency 
of  the  congressional  majority  to  inharmonious  action, 
but  rather  the  inflexible  attitude  of  the  President. 
On  July  28th  the  Senate  adopted  the  bill  for  the 
establishment  of  a  bank  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six  to 
twenty- three,  and  nine  days  later  the  House  took  similar 
action  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  to 
ninety-seven.  "  Whether  the  President  will  approve  it 
[the  Bank  Bill],"  wrote  Webster  to  Everett  July  29th, 
u  is  a  question  which  I  hardly  dare  ask  myself.  If  he 
should  not,  I  know  not  what  will  become  of  our  ad 
ministration."  On  the  day  on  which  the  bill  reached 
the  President,  Webster  wrote  to  his  wife  :  "  He  [the 
President]  keeps  his  own  counsel  as  to  approving  or 
disapproving.  Opinions  differ  very  much  as  to  what 
he  will  do.  A  great  commotion  will  doubtless  follow, 
if  he  should  veto  the  bill.  By  agreement,  I  say  noth 
ing  to  him  on  the  subject,  and  have  therefore  no 
better  means  of  judging  than  others.  But  the  inclina 
tion  of  my  opinion  is  that  he  will  sign  the  bill."3 
Action  was  delayed  until  August  16th,  when  the 
measure  was  returned  with  a  veto,  based  upon  grounds 
both  of  constitutionality  and  of  expediency.  Upon 
the  question  of  passing  the  bill  over  the  veto  the 

1  Webster  to  Edward  Everett,  July  24,  1841.     Webster,  "  Pri 
vate  Correspondence,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  105-106. 
1  lUd.,  Vol.  II,  p.  106.  »  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  108. 


300  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

Senate  was  almost  evenly  divided,  and  the  measure 
was  lost.  A  second  bill,  framed  by  the  Whig  leaders 
partially  in  consultation  with  the  President,  wtis 
passed  in  the  House  August  23d  and  in  the  {Senate 
September  3d  ;  but,  September  9th,  it  was  returned 
by  Tyler  without  his  signature,  and  all  prospect  of  tie 
enactment  of  a  bank  bill  during  the  present  adminis 
tration  definitely  disappeared. 

By  the  sharp  setback  which  their  programme  had 
suffered  at  the  hand  of  one  whom  they  had  themselves 
elevated  to  power  the  Whigs  were  alike  chagrined  and 
enraged.  The  President  was  accused  of  insincerity 
and  maliciousness,  and  a  select  House  committee  under 
the  chairmanship  of  John  Quincy  Adams  brought  in  a 
report  in  which  it  was  maintained  that  Tyler  had  com  - 
niitted  himself  definitely  to  the  second  bill  in  advance 
of  its  passage  in  Congress.  The  charge  was  denied 
unequivocally  by  the  President,  and  in  all  probability 
with  essential  truthfulness.  None  the  less,  all  of  the 
members  of  the  cabinet  save  Webster  determined  to 
enter  protest  by  resignation,  and  all  of  the  resigning 
members  except  the  Postmaster-General,  Granger, 
published  statements  in  which  the  veracity  of  the 
President  was  sharply  impugned.  Writing  to  a  friend 
in  New  York,  September  10th,  Webster  informed  him 
of  the  decision  of  his  colleagues,  arrived  at  on  the, 
previous  evening  in  a  conference  at  which  he  had  not 
himself  been  present,  and  of  the  position  which  he  had 
assumed  in  the  matter.  "I  told  them,"  he  says, 
"  I  thought  they  had  acted  rashly,  and  that  I  should 
consider  of  my  own  course.  I  shall  not  act  suddenly  ; 
it  will  look  too  much  like  a  combination  between  a 
Whig  cabinet  and  a  Whig  Senate  to  bother  the  Presi 
dent.  It  will  not  be  expected  from  me  to  countenance 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  301 

such  a  proceeding.  Then,  again,  I  will  not  throw  the 
great  foreign  concerns  of  the  country  into  disorder  or 
danger  by  any  abrupt  party  proceeding.  How  long  I 
may  stay,  I  know  not,  but  I  mean  to  take  time  to  con 
sider."  l  On  the  evening  of  the  day  upon  which  this 
letter  was  written  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts 
delegation  in  Congress,  gathered  by  invitation  at 
Webster7 s  house,  heard  from  him  his  reasons  for  refus 
ing  to  concur  in  the  action  of  his  colleagues  and  as 
sured  him  of  their  belief  in  the  propriety  of  his  course  ; 
and  three  days  later  he  addressed  to  the  editors  of  the 
National  Intelligencer  a  statement  in  which  he  de 
clared,  first,  that  he  "  had  seen  no  sufficient  reasons  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  late  cabinet  by  the  voluntary  act 
of  its  own  members/'  second,  that  if  he  had  seen  such 
reasons  he  should  not  have  felt  warranted  in  retiring 
until  the  President  should  have  been  given  ample  op 
portunity  to  make  provision  for  the  handling  of  the 
important  questions  then  pending  in  the  State  Depart 
ment,  and,  thirdly,  that  while  he  was  as  firmly  con 
vinced  of  the  necessity  of  a  national  bank  as  were  any 
of  his  fellow-partisans,  he  still  had  confidence  that  the 
President  would  cooperate  with  Congress  in  removing 
the  obstacles  to  the  incorporation  of  such  an  institu 
tion,  and  there  certainly  was  no  prospect  of  the  at 
tainment  of  the  desired  end  through  any  other  means.2 
The  position  thus  assumed  was  so  manifestly  sensi 
ble  and  patriotic  that  it  commanded  wide-spread  ap 
proval.  Only  the  Whig  leaders  were  disposed  to 
criticize,  and  all  save  the  more  rabid  of  them  were 

1  Webster  to  Ketchum,  September  10, 1841.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  II.  p.  110. 

'  Webster  to  Messrs.  Gales  and  Seaton,  September  13,  1841. 
Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  81. 


302  DAJSTIEL  WEBSTER 

soon  silenced.  The  vacancies  in  the  cabinet  we.'e 
filled,  and  on  September  13th  the  special  session  came 
to  a  close.  Although  a  considerable  amount  of  reme 
dial  legislation  had  been  enacted,  the  bank  project  was 
recognized  to  be  dead,  and  when  the  autumn  elections 
came  on  it  was  revealed  that  already  there  had  set  in  a 
sharp  reaction  against  the  Whig  ascendancy.  During 
the  regular  session  of  1840-1841  some  of  the  less  im 
portant  portions  of  Clay's  programme  were  carried 
into  operation.  The  tariff  was  readjusted  and  an  act 
was  passed  providing  for  the  distribution  of  the  pro 
ceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands.  But  the  modifica 
tions  of  the  tariff  were  neither  large  nor  enduring ,  and 
the  distribution  act  was  rendered  inoperative  by  a 
provision  to  the  effect  that  no  distribution  should  be 
made  when  tariff  rates  should  be  in  excess  of  twenty 
per  cent.  On  March  31,  1842,  Clay  resigned  his  seat 
in  the  Senate,  the  more  freely  to  devote  himself  to  the 
reorganization  of  his  shattered  party. 

That  Webster  likewise  felt  keenly  the  humiliation 
of  his  party  and  the  discordant  character  of  the  times 
appears  repeatedly  in  his  correspondence.  "  I  wish  I 
could  say  a  cheering  word,"  he  wrote  to  Everett  two 
mouths  after  Clay's  retirement,  u  in  relation  to  the 
general  state  of  our  political  affairs.  Rut  nothing  can 
be  worse.  .  .  .  Our  system  of  self-government  is 
now  undergoing  an  experiment  which  amounts  to  tor 
ture.  Party  and  personal  rancor,  recklessness,  and 
animosity,  seem  to  be  making  havoc  of  all  just  prin 
ciples,  all  practical  expediency,  and  all  really  patriotic 
feeling.  I  hope  for  better  times,  but  the  present  dark 
ness  is  thick  and  palpable."1  " Public  affairs  are 

1  Webster  to  Everett,  May  31,  1842.  Webster,  ' '  Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  I,  p.  132. 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  30o 

in  a  dreadful  state,"  declared  a  communication  of 
August  10th,  "and  I  know  not  when  they  will  mend. 
Of  one  thing  I  am  glad,  and  that  is  that  I  am  out  of 
Congress.  I  liked  Congress  very  much  formerly  ;  very 
much  ;  but  men  and  things,  habits,  tempers,  prin 
ciples,  all  have  changed."  "It  is  obvious,"  he  wrote 
to  his  son  Fletcher,  October  19th,  "  that  the  political 
power  in  the  country  is  falling  back  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  were  outnumbered  by  the  Whigs  in  1840. 
All  this  was  to  have  been  expected,  from  the  violence 
and  injustice  which  have  characterized  the  conduct  of 
the  Whig  leaders. " l  "  The  recent  elections, ' '  he  wrote 
three  weeks  later,  "  show  that  the  Whig  party  is 
broken  up,  and  perhaps  can  never  be  reunited.7' 

Despite,  however,  the  chaos  which  prevailed  in  do 
mestic  affairs,  the  Whig  Administration  was  able  to 
pursue  a  vigorous  and  highly  successful  course  in  the 
conduct  of  foreign  relations.  The  fact  that  the  years 
of  his  withdrawal  from  Congress  comprised  a  period 
during  which  membership  in  that  body  could  not  have 
yielded  the  best  of  results,  and  the  further  circum 
stance  that  the  post  of  secretary  of  state  fell  to  him  at 
a  juncture  when  the  foreign  situation  was  unusually 
full  of  opportunity,  contributed  enormously,  not  only 
to  Webster's  personal  satisfaction  during  these  troubled 
years,  but  also  to  his  diversity  of  achievement  and, 
consequently,  to  his  fame.  The  period  during  which 
he  retained  the  direction  of  the  State  Department  ex 
tended  from  the  inauguration  of  President  Harrison  to 
May  8,  1843,  i.  e.,  through  approximately  the  first  half 
of  the  administration.  During  these  years  the  activities 
of  the  Department  were  widely  varied.  The  question,, 
of  the !  a^n^xajtioji-QlIEexas^continued  in  suspense7  but 
1  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Webster,"  p.  281. 


304  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

it  fell  to  Jffebgter.  to  vindicate-the.  course  of  the  United 
Sfatelf  in  recognizing  J^h^i^  Texan 

republic  and  to  take  steps  several  times  looking  to  waul 
the  protection  of  American  lives  and  property  in  tl  e 
southwest.1  A  treaty  of  some  importance,  arrangiug 
duties  upon  wines,  was  concluded  with  Portugal.  A 
mission  to  China,  organized  for  the  purpose  of  procur 
ing  a  treaty  of  commerce  such  as  had  been  concluded 
between  Great  Britain  and  China,  was  provided  for, 
and  in  1844,  under  the  skilful  management  of  Caleb 
Cushing,  the  enterprise  was  carried  to  a  successful  con 
clusion.  At  home,  the  government's  policies  respect 
ing  the  questions  raised  by  the  Dorr  "  rebellion"  ia 
Ehode  Island  were  shaped  and  executed  by  the  De 
partment. 

The  questions  of  first-rate  ..importance,  however, 
which  fell  To"  Webster  for  adj  ustment  were  thosearisiiig 
from  a  somewhat  extended_series  of  controversies  with 
Gre"aT~Britain,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  one 
of  tnlTcbnsicTerations  by  which  he  was  induced  to  ac 
cept  the  secretaryship  of  state  was  the  conviction  that 
he  could  achieve  success  in  the  conduct  of  our  British 
relations  where  others  had  failed.  Certainly  one  of  the 
principal  considerations  which  influenced  him  to  re 
main  in  Tyler's  cabinet  after  the  withdrawal  of  all  of 
his  earlier  colleagues  was  his  desire  to  complete  the 
gigantic  diplomatic  task  to  which  he  had  set  his  hand. 
When  he  assumed  control  of  the  State  Department 
there  were  pending  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  three  principal  issues.  The  first  was 
that  of  the  boundary  between  Maine  and  Vermont,  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  British  provinces  of  Quebec  and 


documents  in  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  422-4612, 
and  "  Writings  and  Speeches,''  Vol.  XII,  pp.  96-136. 


TREATY  OF  WASHINGTON  305 

Nova  Scotia,  on  the  other.  The  second  was  a  question 
arising  from  the  relations  between  American  citizens 
and  the  Canadian  insurgents  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion 
of  1837,  involving  especially  the  affair  of  the  Caroline 
and  the  imprisonment  in  New  York  of  a  British- 
Canadian  subject  of  the  name  of  McLeod.  The  third 
pertained  to  the  status  of  the  international  slave-trade, 
and  centered  largely  about  the  hotly  controverted 
principle  of  the  right  of  search.  Of  the  three  issues, 
the  first  and  third  were  long-standing,  but  of  rapidly 
increasing  seriousness  j  the  second  was  more  ephemeral 
and  was  the  first  to  be  brought  to  the  point  of  settle 
ment 

The  McLeod  case,  which  was  pressing  for  attention 
when  Webster  entered  the  cabinet,  was  an  outcome  of 
the  Caroline  affair  of  December  29, 1837.  The  Caroline 
was  a  vessel  owned  by  a  resident  of  Buffalo.  She  plied 
ordinarily  between  points  on  the  American  side  of  the 
Niagara  River  ;  but  during  the  course  of  the  Canadian 
rebellion  of  1837  she  was  used  to  transport  supplies 
and  reinforcements  from  the  insurgent  stronghold, 
Navy  Island,  to  the  Canadian  side  of  the  stream.  On 
December  29th  a  party  of  Canadian  troops  crossed  to 
the  American  shore,  cut  loose  the  vessel  from  her 
moorings,  set  her  on  fire,  and  allowed  her  to  drift  over 
the  Falls.  During  the  melee  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  of  the  name  of  Durfree  was  slain.  The  British 
Government  avowed  full  responsibility  for  the  de 
struction  of  the  Caroline  and  protested  that  the  act  was 
one  of  necessary  self-defense.  The  Van  Buren  Admin 
istration  demurred,  but  was  unable  to  establish  a  right 
to  reparation.  Late  in  1840  Alexander  McLeod,  for 
merly  a  Canadian  deputy  sheriff,  made  his  appearance 
in  New  York  and  boasted  that  it  was  he  who  had  killed 


306  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Durfree  j  whereupon  he  was  placed  under  arrest  and 
indicted  for  murder.  On  the  ground  that  the  prisouci , 
while  participating  in  the  capture  of  the  Caroline,  was 
performing  an  act  of  public  duty  for  which  he  could 
not  be  made  personally  and  individually  answerable  to 
the  laws  of  any  country,  the  British  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  Fox,  peremptorily  demanded  McLeod' s  release. 
Feeling  in  Great  Britain,  already  stirred  by  the  open 
sympathy  of  large  numbers  of  Americans  with  the 
Canadian  revolutionists,  and  by  other  matters,  became 
intense.  The  foreign  secretary,  Palmerston,  curtly  in 
formed  the  American  minister,  Stevenson,  that  Mc 
Leod' s  execution  would  be  the  signal  for  war  ; l  and  it 
is  certainly  true  that  at  no  time  since  1815  had  war  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  been  so 
imminent  as  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1841.  Webster's 
study  of  the  case  inclined  him  to  an  acceptance  of  the 
British  contention,  namely,  that  responsibility  for  the 
occurrences  in  which  the  prisoner  was  involved  lay 
with  the  nation  and  not  with  the  individual,  and,  ac 
cordingly,  that  McLeod  should  be  set  free.  The  pecul 
iar  difficulty  of  the  case  arose,  however,  from  the  fact 
that  McLeod  was  in  the  custody  of  the  authorities  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  who  were  bent  upon  proceeding 
with  the  trial  which  was  set  for  the  ensuing  May .  The 
most  that  Webster,  acting  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
President,  could  do  was  to  see  that  McLeod  was  pro 
vided  with  capable  counsel  and  to  have  this  counsel 
furnished  with  evidence  on  which  to  sue  for  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York. 
When  the  writ  was  unexpectedly  denied  and  the 
prisoner  was  remanded  for  trial  the  situation  looked 
dark.  But  the  counsel  for  the  defendant,  abandoning 
1  Bulwer,  "  Palmerston, "  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  46,  49. 


TBEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  307 

the  line  of  defense  marked  out  by  the  State  Depart 
ment,  fell  back  upon  the  attempt  to  prove  an  alibi, 
and,  curiously  enough,  the  attempt  was  successful. 
October  12,  1841,  McLeod  was  acquitted  and  released.1 
This  termination  of  the  McLeod  case,  wrote  John 
Quiucy  Adams  in  his  Diary,  removed  all  immediate 
danger  of  a  collision  between  the  two  nations,  but  "left 
the  negotiations  with  the  British  authorities  upon  the 
Maine  boundary,  the  South  Sea  [Pacific]  boundary, 
the  slave-trade,  and  the  seizure  of  our  ships  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  thorns  to  be  extracted  by  purer  and 
more  skilful  hands  than  are  to  be  found  in  the  Admin 
istration  of  John  Tyler."  2  The  author  of  this  caustic 
remark  failed  completely  to  estimate  at  their  true 
worth  the  statesmanship  of  the  President,  the  diplo 
matic  capacities  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  in 
tegrity  and  patriotism  of  the  Administration  in  gen 
eral.  At  the  moment  when  the  words  were  penned  the 
country  was,  in  point  of  fact,  fast  approaching  a  dip 
lomatic  adjustment  with  Great  Britain  destined  to  be 
both  honorable  and  permanent.  For  such  a  consum 
mation  the  way  was  prepared,  not  alone  by  the  acces 
sion  of  Webster  to  the  portfolio  of  state,  but  by  a  gen 
eral  overturn  in  official  circles  at  London.  In  June, 
1841,  the  Whig 'ministry  of  Melbourne  suffered  defeat 
in  the  Commons,  and  at  the  national  elections  which 
ensued  the  Tories  won  so  clear  a  victory  that  in  August 
the  making  up  of  a  ministry  was  entrusted  to  the  Tory 
leader,  Eobert  Peel.  At  the  Foreign  Office  the  aggres 
sive  Palmerston  was  succeeded  by  the  cautious  Aber 
deen,  and  the  r^w  ministry  as  a  whole  was  disposed  to 

^or  the  documents  in  the  McLeod  case  see  "Works  of  Web 
ster,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  247-269,  and  "Writings  and  Speeches, "  Vol. 
IX,  pp.  247-269.  2  Adams,  "  Memoirs,"  Vol.  XI,  p.  27. 


308  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

be  much  more  conciliatory  than  its  predecessor.  The 
consequence  was  the  rapid  smoothing  of  the  way  for 
the  series  of  negotiations  whose  outcome  was  the  iiotabl •* 
treaty  signed  by  Webster  and  the  British  commissioner 
Ashburton  in  the  summer  of  1842. 

lu  many  respects  the  most  serious  of  the  pending 
issues  between  the  two  countries  was  that  of  the  north 
eastern  boundary,  and  in  the  settlement  of  this  long 
standing  question  Webster  felt  from  the  first  the  deepest: 
possible  interest.     The  question  arose  from  the  ambi 
guity  of  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1783  regarding  the  line 
of  demarcation    between  the  United  States  and  the 
British  possessions  on  the  north.     As  early  as  1802  a 
futile  attempt  was  made  by  Jefferson  to  procure  a  sel 
tlemeut,  and  the  treaty  of  Ghent  contained  a  provision 
in  accordance  with  which  two  joint  commissions  were 
to  be  constituted  to  take  under  consideration  the  matters 
in   dispute.     One  of  the  resulting  commissions  per 
formed   successfully  the  work  allotted  to  it,  but  the 
other,   confronted  by  an  essentially  impossible  task, 
expended   six   years  of  arduous  effort  and  ended  by 
failing  completely  to  reach  an  agreement.     In  1827  tin- 
two  governments  concluded  a  convention   by   whose 
terms  the  issue  was  referred  to  an  arbitrator  ;  but  the 
referee  chosen,  the  king  of  the  Netherlands,  recom 
mended,  in  1831,  the  adoption  of  a  boundary  line  which 
he  marked  out,  rather  than  either  of  the  lines  favored 
by  one  of  the  contestants,  and  the  recommendation  was 
not  adopted.     Correspondence  upon   the  subject  was 
continued  intermittently,  and  the  tone  of  it  grew  more 
rather  than  less  unfriendly.     Not  until  after  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Whig  administration  in  1841  did  there 
appear  prospect  of  a  satisfactory  adjustment.     Mean 
while  the  situation  grew  ever  more  serious,    for  the 


TBEATY  OP  WASHINGTON  309 

border  populations  of  Maine  and  New  Brunswick  fell 
to  fighting  over  the  disputed  lands.  In  1838-1839 
there  was  a  prolonged  series  of  clashes  which  acquired 
the  designation  of  the  Aroostook,  or  "  Kestook,"  War. 
In  March,  1841,  Webster  entered  upon  his  duties  as 
secretary  of  state  convinced  that  "  of  all  the  topics  in 
discussion,"  that  of  the  boundary  was  "infinitely  the 
most  difficult,"  l  yet  confident  that  a  peaceful  adjust 
ment  was  by  no  means  impossible.  Two  years  pre 
viously,  as  has  appeared,  he  had  taken  the  suggestion 
that  he  should  be  despatched  on  a  special  mission  to 
London  as  an  occasion  to  draw  up  a  comprehensive 
scheme  for  the  handling  of  the  boundary  issue,  and  in 
1841  he  found  himself  in  a  position  to  carry  into  exe 
cution  the  essentials  of  this  plan.  To  a  proposal  that 
negotiations  should  be  renewed  informally  the  British 
Government  replied  favorably,  and  the  appointment, 
late  in  the  year,  of  Lord  Ashburton  as  special  envoy 
evidenced  in  unmistakable  manner  the  honesty  of  pur 
pose  of  the  premier  and  his  colleagues.  "  The  prin 
cipal  aim  and  object  of  that  part  of  my  life  devoted  to 
public  objects,"  wrote  Ashburton  to  Webster  soon 
after  the  appointment,  "during  the  thirty -fi ve  years 
that  I  have  had  a  seat  in  one  or  the  other  House  of 
Parliament,  has  been  to  impress  on  others  the  neces 
sity  of,  and  to  promote  jay  self,  peace  and  harmony  be 
tween  our  countries."  2  The  only  fault  found  with  the 
appointment  in  England  was  that  the  envoy  was  likely 
to  be  too  little  disposed  to  insist  upon  British  rights. 
"The  special  mission,"  wrote  Webster  to  Everett, 
"  was  a  surprise  to  us  ;  but  the  country  receives  it 

1  Webster  to  John  Davis,  April  16,  1841.     Webster,  "Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  119. 

5  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  253. 


310  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

very  well.  For  my  own  part,  no  selection  of  a  min 
ister  could  be  more  agreeable  to  me  than  that  of  Lord 
Ashburton,  as  I  entertain  toward  him  sentiments  of 
great  kindness  and  regard.  ...  It  [the  mission] 
gives  me  promise  of  work  enough,  overwhelmed  as  I 
already  am  by  affairs  growing  out  of  the  very  unhappy 
state  of  things  among  us,  and  out  of  the  calls  and  pro 
ceedings  of  Congress.  But  my  health  is  good — never 
better — and  if  I  can  so  far  repress  anxiety  as  to  be 
able  to  sleep,  I  hope  to  get  through."  ' 

Lord  Ashburtou  arrived  in  Washington  April  4, 
1842,  and  was  well  received  in  both  official  and  non- 
official  circles.  It  was  commonly  believed  that  he 
had  come,  as  Webster  expressed  it,  with  "an  honest 
and  sincere  intent  of  removing  all  causes  of  jealousy, 
disquietude,  or  difference  between  the  two  countries." 
The  negotiations  were  opened,  at  the  middle  of  June, 
with  perfect  frankness  upon  both  sides,  and  were  car 
ried  through  with  no  deviation  from  the  initial  spirit 
of  friendliness.  The  task  was  complicated  enormously 
by  the  claims  of  the  states  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts, 
pressed  by  specially  appointed  commissioners,  and  at 
several  stages  Webster  was  inclined  to  despair  of  a 
satisfactory  issue.  But  happily  the  effort  was  not 
abandoned.  The  negotiations  were  so  entirely  in 
formal  that,  contrary  to  the  custom  prevailing  in  such 
work,  no  minutes  of  the  meetings  were  preserved  and 
no  protocols  whatsoever, were  prepared.  The  Secretary 
had  at  all  stages  the'  cordial  support  of  the  President. 
"  I  shall  never  speak  of  this  negotiation,  my  dear  sir," 
he  declared  to  Tyler  after  the  conclusion  of  the  work, 
*•  which  I  believe  is  destined  to  make  some  figure  in 

1  Webster  to  Everett,  January  29,  1842.  Webster,  "Private 
Correspondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  114^ 


TKEATY  OP  WASHINGTON  311 

the  history  of  the  country,  without  doing  you  justice. 
Your  steady  support  and  confidence,  your  anxious  and 
intelligent  attention  to  what  was  in  progress,  and  your 
exceedingly  obliging  and  pleasant  intercourse,  both 
with  the  British  minister  and  the  commissioners  of 
the  states,  have  given  every  possible  facility  to  my 
agency  in  this  important  transaction."  1 

The  treaty  as  signed  August  9th  d^-lt  ^jth  Hirpp 
imporfa^Fsu^jects— the  extradition  of 
of  crimeTjthe  suppression  of  the  international  slave 
trade,  sxnAJttie.  nnrthftsy^y^  «nd  northwestern  bound- 
aries.  The  provision  concerning  extradition  was  the 
firsTmserted  in  any  treaty  to  which  the  United  States 
was  a  party  since  the  Jay  treaty  of  1794  ;  and  the  extra 
dition  article  of  that  instrument  had  expired  by  limi 
tation  in  1806.  The  present  provision  was  made  both 
comprehensive  and  perpetual.  On  the  subject  of  the 
slave  trade  the  treaty  went  only  so  far  as  to  stipulate 
that  the  two  powers  should  maintain  in  service  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  independent  squadrons  sufficient  to  en 
force  their  respective  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  traffic,  and  that  they  should  cooperate  in  "all 
becoming  representations  and  remonstrances "  with 
all  powers  within  whose  dominion  the  market  for 
slaves  was  permitted  to  remain  open.  The  opposition 
of  the  United  States  to  the  right  of  visitation  or  search, 
regarded  by  the  British  authorities  as  a  necessary  ad 
junct  to  the  campaign  against  the  slave  trade,  was  so 
pronounced  that  the  subject  was  regarded  as  one  not 
open  to  discussion,  and  between  Webster  and  Ash- 

1  Webster  to  Tyler,  August  24,  1842.  Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence, "  Vol.  II,  p.  147.  For  the  notes  exchanged  by 
Webster  and  Lord  Ash  burton  see  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI, 
pp.  270-328,  and  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XI,  pp.  270-328. 


312  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

burton  it  was  hardly  mentioned.  The  plan  of  action 
for  which  the  treaty  provided  was  in  reality  the 
President's,  and  it  was  in  his  name  that  it  was  pre 
sented  by  Webster  to  the  British  commissioner.  The 
settlement  of  the  northern  boundaries  was  made  upon 
the  basis  of  compromise.  The  disputed  lines  from  the 
source  of  the  St.  Croix  to  the  intersection  with  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  from  the  passage  between  Lake  Huron 
and  Lake  Superior  to  the  northwestern  corner  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  were  agreed  upon  and  described, 
and  a  commission  was  provided  for  to  survey  and 
mark  them.  The  claims  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts 
were  satisfied  by  a  payment  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  each  by  the  United  States.  There 
were  several  minor  stipulations  regarding  tne  iiaviga 
tion  of  rivers  adjacent  to  the  boundaries  and  other 
kindred  matters. 

Upon  several  pending  questions  of  more  or  less  im 
portance  the  treaty  did  not  touch.  There  was  nothing 
regarding  the  Oregon  territory,  trade  with  the  British 
West  Indies,  tariff  relations,  the  violation  of  territory 
in  the  case  of  the  Caroline,  or  the  proper  course  to  be 
pursued  when  slaves  belonging  to  American  citizens 
were  by  any  circumstance  cast  upon  British  soil.  The 
last-mentioned  question  had  been  given  fresh  interest 
by  the  Creole  episode  of  November,  1841.  The  brig 
Creole,  with  a  cargo  of  merchandise  and  slaves,  was 
on  her  way  from  Richmond  to  New  Orleans  when  the 
slaves  rose,  overpowered  the  ship's  master  and  crew, 
and  put  in  at  the  port  of  Nassau,  on  the  British  island 
of  New  Providence,  in  the  West  Indies.  The  British 
authorities  at  the  port,  instead  of  coming  to  the  relief 
of  the  crew  and  setting  the  vessel  again  upon  her 
course,  permitted  the  slaves  to  escape  and  left  the  crew 


TEEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  313 

entirely  without  succor.  The  affair  aroused  keen  re 
sentment  in  the  South,  and  it  fell  to  Webster  to  seek 
reparation.  At  the  negotiation  of  1842,  however, 
Lord  Ashburton  professed  lack  of  instructions,  and  the 
most  that  Webster  could  obtain  from  him  was  an  un 
written  agreement  that  there  should  be  no  "officious 
interference "  with  American  vessels  driven  by  acci 
dent  or  by  violence  into  West  Indian  ports.  Not 
withstanding  these  omissions,  the  results  of  the  nego 
tiation  were  regarded  in  the  United  States  as  distinctly 
worthy  of  commendation,  and  the  treaty,  laid  before 
the  Senate  August  llth,  was  reported  by  the  Foreign 
Relations  Committee  without  amendment  and  was  rati 
fied  by  a  vote  of  thirty-nine  to  nine,  a  majority  con 
siderably"  in  excess  of  that  which  Webster  had  ex 
pected.  On  October  13th  ratifications  were  exchanged 
at  London,  and  on  November  10th  the  treaty  was  pro 
claimed. 

The  Webster-Ashburton  negotiation^  comprises  one 
of  the  most  highly  creditable  chapters  in  the  history  of 
modern~lfi|yftmracy; — Not  only  was  a  threatened  war 

IIH__  ii  *  •-— 

averted ;  the  lofty  tone  of  the  negotiation  fixed  a 
stanttarcTwhich'  in  subsequent  Cimc^was  by  no  means 
without  _eflfect_in  _the  dealings  of  the  two  nations. 
EacTTnegotiator  was  firm  when  the  interests  commUteS 
to  him  required  that  he  be  so,  but  each  was  actuated 
by  a  profoundly  friendly  spirit  toward  the  other,  and 
each  was  ready  at  all  times  to  make  every  possible  al 
lowance  for  the  requirements  of  the  other's  position. 
Thoroughly  grounded  in  the  principles  of  the  law  of 
nations,  Webster  maintained  throughout  the  negotia 
tion  not  one  point  of  law  whose  validity  the  jurist  of 
to-day  is  disposed  to  call  in  question.  And  the  fact 
that  the  settlements  arrived  at  proved  eventually  satis- 


314  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

factory  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  notwithstanding 
the  recent  intensity  of  feeling  on  both  sides,  is  testi 
mony  alike  to  the  skill  and  the  fairness  with  which 
the  negotiations  were  carried  through.1 

Throughout  the  summer  of  1842  there  continued  to 
be  murmuring  among  the  more  radical  Whigs  by 
reason  of  Webster's  refusal  to  withdraw  from  the  cab 
inet,  and  the  fact  that  in  the  negotiations  with  Ash- 
burton  the  Secretary  was  collaborating  in  a  cordial 
manner  with  President  Tyler  brought  down  upon  his 
head  no  small  amount  of  open  criticism.  Even  his 
closest  friends  were  insistent  that  he  should  not  con 
tinue  a  member  of  Tyler's  official  family  after  the 
termination  of  the  British  treaty.  "Your  real 
friends,"  wrote  Abbott  Lawrence,  July  30th,  when 
the  end  of  the  negotiation  was  in  view,  "  will  unani 
mously  agree  with  me  that  now  is  the  accepted  time  to 
quit,  with  honor,  your  present  responsible  but  disagree- 
able  position."  "Your  best  friends  here,"  wrote 
Jeremiah  Mason  from  Boston,  August  28th,  "think 
that  there  is  an  insuperable  difficulty  in  your  continu 
ing  any  longer  in  President  Tyler's  cabinet."  The 
demand  for  his  resignation  became,  indeed,  after  the 
signature  of  the  treaty,  insistent.  The  attempt  to  dic 
tate  his  course  of  action  appealed  to  Webster,  how 
ever,  most  unfavorably.  The  petty  persecution  to 
which  he  was  subjected  nettled  him,  and,  wholly 
apart  from  personal  considerations,  it  seemed  to  him 
absolutely  essential  that  he  should  remain  at  his  post 
until  the  execution  of  the  treaty  should  be  entirely  as- 

1  In  Parliament  the  treaty,  referred  to  by  its  opponents  as  ''Ash- 
burton's  Capitulation,"  was  attacked  by  Palmerston  and  other 
members  of  the  Opposition.  But  the  objections  to  it  were  neither 
fundamental  nor  lasting. 


TBEATY  OF  WASHINGTON  316 

sured.  He  therefore  gave  his  advisers  scant  satisfac 
tion.  "I  am.  a  little  hard  to  coax/'  he  declared, 
"  but  as  to  being  driven,  that  is  out  of  the  question. " 
His  resolution  was  in  no  wise  shaken  by  the  hardly 
courteous  action  of  the  Massachusetts  Whig  conven 
tion  of  September  13,  1842,  which  definitely  declared 
a  "full  and  final"  separation  between  the  President 
and  the  Whig  party.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  in 
fluenced  by  that  action  to  appear  in  Faueuil  Hall, 
September  30th,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  brilliant  as 
semblage  of  his  fellow-townsmen  to  lay  bare  merci 
lessly  the  folly  of  widening  the  breach  between  Con 
gress  and  the  President,  and  incidentally  to  explain 
and  defend  the  course  which  he  was  himself  pursuing. 
As  to  his  intent  for  the  future  he  refused  absolutely 
to  commit  himself.  "  I  give  no  pledges,  I  make  no 
intimations  one  way  or  the  other  ;  and  I  will  be  as  free 
when  this  day  closes  to  act  as  duty  calls  as  I  was  at  the 
dawn  of  this  day."1 

During  more  than  seven  months  thereafter  he  con 
tinued  at  his  post,  and  it  was  only  when,  in  the  spring 
of  1843,  he  became  convinced  that  he  could  be  of  little 
furtlTer  serviceTo  t'Ee  Country  as  a  member  of  the  cab 


inet  that_he^  reached  a  decision  to  retire.  The  period 
was  one  of  comparative~mactivity  In  both  foreign  and 
domestic  affairs.  To  the  last  the  pleasant  relations 
which  had  subsisted  between  the  Secretary  and  the 
President  were  maintained.  In  his  letter  of  resigna 
tion,  May  8th,  Webster  assured  his  chief  that  no  one 
could  desire  more  sincerely  or  ardently  "  the  prosper 
ity,  success,  and  honor ' '  of  his  administration  ;  while 
in  his  very  cordial  reply  the  President  expressed  the 

»" Works  of   Webster."    Vol.    II,   p.    124;    "Writings   and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  124. 


316  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

conviction  that  in  conducting  ' i  the  most  delieate  anc 
important  negotiations"  Webster  had  "  manifested 
powers  of  intellect  of  the  highest  order,  and,  in  al 
things,  a  true  American  heart. " 


CHAPTER  XII 

TEXAS,    OREGON,    AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1844 

IMMEDIATELY  upon  his  retirement  from  the  cabinet 
Webster  withdrew  to  his  Massachusetts  home,  now 
definitely  fixed  at  the  country  seat  of  Marshfield,  and 
throughout  the  ensuing  two  years  he  was  enabled,  de 
spite  frequent  professional  engagements,  to  attend  al 
most  continuously  to  his  growing  rural  interests  and  to 
enjoy  in  a  larger  measure  than  at  any  time  since  youth 
his  favored  forms  of  outdoor  recreation.  Marshfield 
was  situated  some  thirty  miles  southeast  of  Boston,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  head  of  Duxbury  Bay.  The  place 
was  first  visited  by  Webster  in  1824.  After  he  and 
his  family  had  spent  a  number  of  summers  there,  in 
1831  he  purchased  from  his  landlord,  Captain  John 
Thomas,  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  bor 
dering  immediately  upon  the  sea.  To  this  possession 
were  added  other  tracts  from  time  to  time  until  there 
was  brought  together  an  estate  of  eighteen  hundred 
acres.  The  house  upon  the  original  tract  was  a  sub 
stantial  square-  shaped  mansion,  built  about  1765.  It 
proved  too  small  for  Webster's  use  and  was  added  to 
upon  several  occasions  until  it  became,  as  Mr.  Curtis 
describes  it,  "  a  house  of  various  architecture,  irregular 
within  and  without,  but  spacious  and  convenient,  and 
both  externally  and  internally  impressing  the  visitor 
with  a  sense  of  its  fitness  as  Mr.  Webster's  favorite 
home."  *  At  the  time  of  the  owner's  retirement  from 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  217. 


318  DANIEL  WEBbTEE 

the  cabinet  a  room  to  be  employed  as  a  library  was  in 
process  of  construction.  In  1839  the  house  in  Summer 
Street,  Boston,  which  Webster  had  erected  and  long 
occupied  was  sold,  and  thereupon  the  furniture  and 
other  personal  property  of  the  family  was  brought  to 
gether  in  the  Marshfield  mansion.  Only  a  law-office, 
with  a  valuable  professional  library,  was  retained  in 
the  city. 

In  both  the  theoretical  and  the  practical  aspects  of 
agriculture  Webster  maintained  at  all  times  a  vital  in 
terest.  After  the  death  of  his  brother  Ezekiel,  as  has 
appeared,  he  took  over  the  management  of  the  ances 
tral  Elms  Farm  in  New  Hampshire,  so  that  his  atten 
tion  had  thereafter  to  be  divided  between  the  lands  at 
Franklin  and  those  at  Marshfield.  In  both  places  he 
had  overseers  and  carefully  selected  tenants ;  but  he 
busied  himself  none  the  less  with  the  details  of  both 
estates.  Throughout  the  periods  of  hardest  labor  at 
Washington  his  correspondence  abounds  in  letters  to 
his  overseers,  notably  Mr.  Westou  at  Marshfield,  re 
specting  the  care  of  cattle,  the  sowing  and  harvesting 
of  the  crops,  the  repairing  of  fences  and  buildings, 
and  the  multiplicity  of  labors  involved  in  the  op 
eration  of  a  profitable  farm.  From  the  supervision 
of  his  agricultural  enterprises  lie  derived  the  deepest 
satisfaction,  and  it  was  with  unbounded  joy  that  he 
found  himself  occasionally  so  free  from  public  and  pro 
fessional  obligations  as  to  be  able  to  yoke  a  string  of 
oxen  to  a  plough  and  break  an  acre  of  soil  or  undertake 
some  other  feat  of  rural  hardihood.  When  in  the  coun 
try  he  rose  regularly  at  three  or  four  o'clock,  enjoyed 
what  he  always  considered  the  grandest  phenomenon  of 
nature,  i.  e.,  the  sunrise,  made  the  round  of  the  barns 
with  ears  of  corn  for  his  favorite  cattle,  and  not  infre- 


TEXAS,  OKEGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    319 

quently  brought  down  some  woodcocks  or  wild  ducks 
with  his  fowling-piece  before  the  call  to  breakfast.  A 
well-appointed  fishing-boat  was  always  at  hand,  and 
with  a  hard-headed  old  salt,  Seth  Peterson,  as  steers 
man,  many  a  day  was  spent  in  quest  of  halibut  and  cod 
in  the  cool  waters  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  l  i  Oh,  Marsh  - 
field,  the  sea,  the  sea,"  was  a  plaint  repeatedly  raised 
during  wearisome  stretches  of  professional  or  congres 
sional  routine. 

The  opportunity  for  retirement  which  presented 
itself  in  1843  was  especially  agreeable  to  Webster  be 
cause  of  the  need  under  which  he  at  the  time  was 
laboring  to  devote  attention  to  his  private  affairs.  The 
fact  has  been  alluded  to  that  in  him  the  quality  of 
thrift  was  not  predominant  and  that  an  unfortunate 
trait  developed  during  his  youth  was  an  easy  and 
habitual  indifference  to  debt.  In  the  practice  of  his 
profession  he  made  money  readily,  and  often  in  consid 
erable  amounts.  But  he  spent  freely,  even  lavishly, 
and  so  large  a  portion  of  his  maturer  years  was  given 
over  to  the  service  of  the  public  that  the  income  which 
otherwise  he  would  have  enjoyed  from  his  career  at  the 
bar  was  very  materially  lessened.  In  1836,  with  the 
aid  of  friends,  he  contrived  to  adjust  all  of  his  accounts, 
so  that  for  once  he  was  entirely  free  from  debt.  Con 
tinued  service  in  the  Senate  and  the  cabinet,  however, 
involved  further  diminution  of  income,  renewed  bor 
rowing,  and  once  more,  in  the  course  of  six  or  seven 
years,  heavy  indebtedness.  The  social  obligations  of 
his  position,  reenforced  by  a  personal  inclination  to 
generous  hospitality  and  good,  though  not  extravagant, 
living,  rendered  his  salary  totally  inadequate  to  meet 
his  expenses.  This  salary  could  be  supplemented  only 
occasionally  and  irregularly  by  lawyer's  fees.  The 


320  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

farms  at  Franklin  and  Marshfield  were  fairly  produc 
tive,  but  the  owner  was  unsparing  in  his  outlays  upon 
fine  stock,  improved  methods,  better  buildings,  aud 
more  laud,  so  that  the  income  was  as  a  rule  less  thi  u 
the  outgo.  There  were  also  several  landed  investments 
in  the  West,  few  of  which  yielded  returns.  Finally 
must  be  mentioned  the  fact  that  Webster's  personal 
finances  were  managed  at  all  times  in  a  haphazard 
manner.  No  regular  accounts  were  kept,  either  by 
himself  or  by  his  agents,  and  it  was  never  possible  to 
ascertain  precisely  which  enterprises  were  paying  and 
which  were  not.  In  less  than  a  year  after  his  retire 
ment  from  the  cabinet,  however,  he  was  able  to  report 
that  he  was  already  in  enjoyment  of  an  income  of  fit  - 
teen  thousand  dollars  from  his  revived  law  practice. 
He  was  hoping,  too,  to  turn  some  minor  pieces  of 
property  to  good  account,  and  with  respect  to  his  com 
plete  financial  recovery  he  was  altogether  sanguine. 
At  the  suggestion  that  he  should  permit  himself  to  be 
returned  at  an  early  date  to  the  Senate  he  demurred, 
on  the  ground  principally  that  he  could  not  yet  afford 
the  pecuniary  sacrifice  that  would  be  involved.1 

Life  at  Marshfield  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1843  was  interrupted  by  the  preparation  of  certain 
public  addresses  and  by  occasional  trips  beyond  New 
England,  chiefly  professional  visits  to  New  York.  On 
July  23,  1842,  the  last  stone  was  raised  to  its  place  on 
the  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  and  on  June  17,  1843,  the 
sixty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  battle  and  the  eighteenth 
of  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone,  the  completion  of  the 
giant  shaft  was  publicly  celebrated.  As  was  befitting, 
the  services  of  Webster  were  again  sought,  and,  not- 

1  Webster  to  Sears,  February,".,  1844.  Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  183. 


TEXAS,  OREGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844     321 

withstanding  his  desire  for  rest,  he  consented  to  deliver 
the  principal  oration  of  the  occasion.  Elaborate  prepara 
tions  for  the  day  were  made,  the  weather  proved  ideal, 
and  in  numbers  and  enthusiasm  the  celebration  easily 
surpassed  that  of  eighteen  years  before.  The  present 
oration  was  less  impassioned  than  the  earlier  one,  but 
not  less  powerful.  It  was  delivered  in  the  shadow  of  the 
giant  obelisk,  looming  two  hundred  and  twenty-one 
feet  in  the  air,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  audience  of 
one  hundred  thousand  people,  at  least  half  of  whom 
were  within  hearing  of  the  speaker's  voice.  "A 
duty,"  affirmed  Webster  in  his  simple  opening  sen 
tences,  "has  been  performed.  A  work  of  gratitude 
and  patriotism  is  completed.  This  structure,  having 
its  foundations  in  soil  which  drank  deep  of  early  Revo 
lutionary  blood,  has  at  length  reached  its  destined 
height,  and  now  lifts  its  summit  to  the  skies.  We 
have  assembled  to  celebrate  the  accomplishment  of  this 
uudertakiDg,  and  to  indulge  afresh  in  the  recollection 
of  the  great  event  which  it  is  designed  to  commem 
orate."  When,  after  saying  "  It  is  not  from  my  lips, 
it  could  not  be  from  any  human  lips,  that  that  strain 
of  eloquence  is  this  day  to  flow  most  competent  to 
move  and  excite  the  vast  multitude  around  me, — the 
powerful  speaker  stands  motionless  before  us,"  he 
paused  and  pointed  in  silent  admiration  to  the  great 
pile  of  granite,  the  audience  burst  into  unrestrained  ap 
plause,  and  many  minutes  elapsed  before  the  address 
could  be  continued. 

"  We  have  indulged,"  it  was  asserted  in  the  mem 
orable  peroration,  "in  gratifying  recollections  of  the 
past,  in  the  prosperity  and  pleasures  of  the  present, 
and  in  high  hopes  for  the  future.  But  let  us  remem 
ber  that  we  have  duties  and  obligations  to  perform, 


322  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

corresponding  to  the  blessings  which  we  enjoy.  Let  us 
remember  the  trust,  the  sacred  trust,  attaching  to  tLe 
rich  inheritance  which  we  have  received  from  01  r 
fathers.  Let  us  feel  our  personal  responsibility,  to  tl  e 
full  extent  of  our  power  and  influence,  for  the  prese  •• 
vation  of  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
And  let  us  remember  that  it  is  only  religion,  and 
morals,  and  knowledge,  that  can  make  men  respectable 
and  happy,  under  any  form  of  government.  Let  us 
hold  fast  the  great  truth,  that  communities  are  re 
sponsible,  as  well  as  individuals  ;  that  no  government 
is  respectable,  which  is  not  just  ;  that  without  un 
spotted  purity  of  public  faith,  without  sacred  public 
principle,  fidelity,  and  honor,  no  mere  forms  of  gov 
ernment,  no  machinery  of  laws,  can  give  dignity  to 
political  society.  In  our  day  and  generation  let  us 
seek  to  raise  and  improve  the  moral  sentiment,  so 
that  we  may  look,  not  for  a  degraded,  but  for  an  elevated 
and  improved,  future.  And  when  both  we  and  our 
children  shall  have  been  consigned  to  the  house  ap 
pointed  for  all  living,  may  love  of  country  and  pride1 
of  country  glow  with  equal  fervor  among  those  to 
whom  our  names  and  our  blood  shall  have  descended  ! 
And  then,  when  honored  and  decrepit  age  shall  lean 
against  the  base  of  this  monument,  and  troops  of  in 
genuous  youth  shall  be  gathered  round  it,  and  when 
the  one  shall  speak  to  the  other  of  its  objects,  the 
purposes  of  its  construction,  and  the  great  and  glori 
ous  events  with  which  it  is  connected,  there  shall  rise 
from  every  youthful  breast  the  ejaculation,  "  Thank 
God,  I— I  also— AM  AN  AMERICAN  ! ' ? ' 

During  the  summer  of  1843  Webster  was  urged  to 

1U  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,   pp.  106-107;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  282-283. 


TEXAS,  OREGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    323 

attend  a  fair  to  be  held  at  Rochester  in  September,  un 
der  the  auspices  of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  So 
ciety.  i  '  Do  not  wonder, "  he  wrote  to  his  sister-in-law, 
September  18th,  u  if  you  hear  of  me  making  a  sudden 
expedition  to  western  New  York,  to  be  gone  four  days. 
There  are  to  be  cattle  and  sheep  at  Rochester. "  An 
invitation  to  be  present  at  an  entertainment  given  by 
the  officials  of  the  Agricultural  Society  on  the  even 
ing  of  September  20th  was  accepted,  and  upon  this 
occasion  two  speeches  were  delivered,  one  upon  indus-  - 
trial  topics  in  reply  to  the  toast ' '  the  Farmer  of  Marsh- 
field,"  the  other  an  impromptu  reply  to  another  speak 
er's  remarks  concerning  the  financial  condition  of  the 
states.1 

Meanwhile  there  was  looming  above  the  horizon  the 
presidential  election  of  1844.  Already,  in  August,  1843, 
the  Liberty  party  had  held  a  convention  at  Buffalo 
and  had  placed  in  nomination  for  the  presidency  James 
G.  Biruey  of  New  York,  upon  a  platform  denying  the 
power  of  Congress  "to  establish  or  continue  slavery 
any  where "  and  otherwise  assailing  the  asserted 
privileges  of  the  "  peculiar  institution."  Among  the 
Whigs  Clay  was  still  unquestionably  leader,  and 
that  he  should  be  accorded  the  honor  in  1844 
which  he  had  been  denied  in  1840  was  from  the 
outset  inevitable.  His  only  possible  rival  was  Web 
ster.  At  the  last,  Webster  received  little  or  no  consid 
eration  ;  but  during  the  winter  of  1843-1844  an  ap 
preciable  amount  of  effort  was  exerted  in  his  behalf  by 
his  Massachusetts  friends.  As  has  been  observed,  dur 
ing  the  year  or  more  preceding  his  withdrawal  from  the 
cabinet  Webster's  course  had  been  subjected  to  very 
general  criticism  on  the  part  of  the  Whigs  every  where, 
1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  172-195. 


324  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  notably  in  his  own  section  of  the  country.  Even 
after  his  retirement  the  question  continued  to  be 
agitated  as  to  whether,  indeed,  he  could  any  longer 
properly  be  considered  a  member  of  the  Whig  party. 
The  charge  held  against  him  was  not  alone  his  pro 
longed  continuance  in  the  Tyler  cabinet  under  the  cir 
cumstances  which  have  been  described,  but  his  re 
iterated  public  affirmation  that  a  Bank  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  old  plan  had  ceased  to  be  practicable;. 
Upon  the  constitutionality  and  desirability  of  duties 
affording  incidental  protection  to  home  manufactures, 
the  necessity  of  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  public  land,  the  duty  of  the  general  govern 
ment  to  employ  its  full  powers  in  the  regulation  of  the 
currency,  and  a  variety  of  other  tenets  of  Whig  polity 
he  remained  indubitably  orthodox.  But  to  many  of 
his  fellow-partisans  the  admission  which  had  been 
made  concerning  the  Bank  appeared  altogether  unpar 
donable. 

To  the  friends  who  were  desirous  of  clearing  the 
way  for  Webster's  candidacy  in  1844  it  seemed  im 
perative  that  something  should  be  done  to  afford  the 
country  at  large  an  assurance  that  within  his  own 
section  past  differences  were  forgotten  and  that  he  was 
regarded  again  as  a  party  member  in  good  standing. 
To  effect  this  end  Webster  was  persuaded  to  be  pres 
ent  at,  and  to  address,  a  convention  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Whigs  held  at  Andover  November  9,  1843. 
The  speech  delivered  upon  this  occasion  dealt  mainly 
with  the  subjects  of  the  currency,  the  tariff,  aud  thti 
public  lands,  but  it  comprised  also  a  remarkably 
straightforward  and  convincing  confession  of  persona! 
principle.  In  the  course  of  it  Webster  affirmed  that 
he  was  not  a  candidate  for  l  i  any  office  in  the  gift  of 


TEXAS,  OREGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    325 

the  government  or  in  the  gift  of  the  people,"  and  that 
his  condition  as  a  private  citizen  would  never  be 
changed  by  any  movement  or  effort  made  for  that 
purpose  by  himself  or  at  his  suggestion.  "  In  my 
opinion, "  he  asserted,  i '  nominations  for  the  high 
offices  of  the  country  should  come,  if  they  come  at  all, 
from  the  free  and  spontaneous  exercise  of  that  respect 
and  confidence  which  the  people  themselves  may  feel. 
All  solicitations  of  such  nominations,  and  all  canvass 
ing  for  such  high  trusts,  I  regard  as  equally  incon 
sistent  with  personal  dignity  and  derogatory  to  the 
character  of  the  institutions  of  the  country." 

Impelled  by  the  wide-spread  controversy  to  which 
his  course  had  given  rise,  he  went  on  to  declare 
himself  as. follows:  "  As  a  private  man,  I  hold  my 
opinions  on  public  subjects.  They  are  all  such,  in 
their  great  features  and  general  character,  as  I  have 
ever  held.  It  is  as  impossible  that  I  should  tread  back 
the  path  of  my  political  opinions  as  that  I  should  re 
trace,  step  by  step,  the  progress  of  my  natural  life, 
until  I  should  find  myself  again  a  youth.  On  the 
leading  questions  arising  under  our  constitutions  and 
forms  of  government ;  on  the  importance  of  maintain 
ing  the  separation  of  powers,  which  those  constitutions 
establish  ;  on  the  great  principles  of  such  a  policy  as 
shall  promote  all  interests,  maintain  general  harmony 
in  the  country,  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  of  polit 
ical  and  religious  liberty — my  opinions,  the  result  of 
no  little  study,  and  some  experience,  have  become  part 
of  myself.  They  are  identified  with  all  my  habits  of 
thought  and  reflection,  and  though  I  may  change  niy 
views  of  particular  measures,  or  not  deem  the  same 
measures  equally  proper  at  all  times,  yet  I  am  sure  it 
is  quite  impossible  I  should  ever  take  such  a  view, 


326  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

either  of  the  public  interest  or  of  iny  own  duty,  a  3 
should  lead  to  a  departure  from  any  cardinal  prin 
ciples."  l 

One  subject,  namely,  the  propriety  of  his  course 
in  refusing  to  retire  from  the  cabinet  in  1841,  Webste :: 
declared  he  made  mention  of  at  this  time  only  because 
the  committee  which  had  invited  him  to  the  conven 
tion  had  made  specific  allusion  to  it.  "I  am  aware,'* 
he  said,  "  that  there  are  many  persons  in  the  country, 
having  feelings  not  unfriendly  toward  me  personally, 
and  entertaining  all  proper  respect  for  my  public- 
character,  who  yet  think  I  ought  to  have  left  the 
cabinet  with  my  colleagues.  I  do  not  complain  of 
any  fair  exercise  of  opinion  in  this  respect ;  and  if,  by 
such  persons  as  I  have  referred  to,  explanation  be  de 
sired  of  anything  in  the  past,  or  anything  in  my  pres 
ent  opinions,  it  will  be  readily  and  cheerfully  given. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  deal  only  in  coarse 
vituperation,  and  satisfy  their  sense  of  candor  and 
justice  simply  by  the  repetition  of  the  charge  of  der 
eliction  of  duty  and  infidelity  to  Whig  principles, 
are  not  entitled  to  the  respect  of  an  answer  from  me. 
.  .  .  Gentlemen,  I  could  not  but  be  sensible  that 
great  responsibility  attached  to  the  course  which  I 
adopted.  It  was  a  moment  of  great  excitement.  A 
most  unfortunate  difference  had  broken  out  between 
the  President  and  the  Whig  members  of  Congress. 
Much  exasperation  had  been  produced,  and  the  whole 
country  was  in  a  very  inflamed  state.  No  man  of 
sense  can  suppose,  that,  without  strong  motives,  I 
should  wish  to  differ  in  conduct  from  those  with  whom 
I  had  long  acted  ;  and  as  for  those  persons  whose 

1<{  Works  of  Webster,''  Vol.  II,  pp.  180-181 ;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  180-181. 


TEXAS,  OKEGON,  ELECTION  OP  1844    327 

charity  leads  them,  to  seek  for  such  motive  in  the 
hope  of  personal  advantage,  neither  their  candor  nor 
their  sagacity  deserves  anything  but  contempt.  I 
admit,  gentlemen,  that  if  a  very  strong  desire  to  be 
instrumental  and  useful  in  accomplishing  a  settlement 
of  our  difficulties  with  England,  which  had  then  risen 
to  an  alarming  height,  and  appeared  to  be  approach 
ing  a  crisis — if  this  be  a  personal  motive,  then  I  con 
fess  myself  to  have  been  influenced  by  a  personal 
motive.  The  imputation  of  any  other  personal  mo 
tive,  the  charge  of  seeking  any  selfish  advantage,  I 
repel  with  utter  scorn.  .  .  .  Gentlemen,  I  thought 
I  saw  an  opportunity  of  doing  the  State  some  service, 
and  I  ran  the  risk  of  the  undertaking.  I  certainly  do 
not  regret  it,  and  never  shall  regret  it."  1 

In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Curtis  the  real  reason  why 
Webster  made  special  effort  at  this  point  to  set  him 
self  right  with  the  Whigs  was  one  which  for  the  time 
being  he  was  not  free  to  avow,  namely,  his  desire  to 
be  in  a  position  to  advise  and  control  his  party  upon 
the  question  of  Texas.  It  may  be  supposed  that  con 
siderations  of  political  expediency  were  not  wholly 
without  their  bearing,  but  it  undoubtedly  is  true  that 
the  seriousness  of  the  Texan  issue  was  very  keenly  felt. 
When,  in  1836,  that  issue  was  thrust  into  the  fore 
ground  by  the  success  of  the  Texan  revolution  Webster 
predicted  that  it  would  introduce  into  the  politics  of 
the  country  "  new  causes  of  embarrassment  and  new 
tendencies  to  dismemberment "  ; 2  and  throughout  the 
succeeding  years  of  intermittent  diplomacy  and  varia- 

1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  229 ;  "  Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  Ill,  pp.  181-182. 

8  Webster  to  Everett,  May  7,  1836.  Webster,  "  Private  Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  19. 


328  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

tion  of  policy  he  found  increasing  rather  than  dimin 
ishing  reason  for  apprehension.  In  September,  1836, 
the  people  of  Texas  voted  overwhelmingly  for  annexa 
tion  to  the  United  States,  and  the  demand  for  such 
annexation  which  arose  from  numerous  and  influential 
elements  in  the  United  States,  northern  as  well  as 
southern,  was  such  as  to  be  extremely  difficult  to  re 
sist,  The  most  that  could  be  obtained,  however,  dur 
ing  the  continuance  of  the  Jackson  administration  was 
a  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  republic,  in 
March,  1837  ;  and  throughout  the  four  years  of  Van 
Bureu  the  programme  of  the  annexationists  was  blocked 
absolutely  by  the  opposition  of  the  President.  In  1838 
the  Texan  offer  of  annexation  was  withdrawn,  and  in 
1839-1840  treaties  of  friendship  were  concluded  by  the 
republic  with  France,  Great  Britain,  and  other  Euro 
pean  states.  When,  in  1841,  Webster  assumed  the 
state  portfolio  he  recognized  that  the  project  of  annex 
ation  was  likely  to  be  revived  at  any  time,  and  in 
December  of  the  year  mentioned  he  was  not  surprised 
to  be  approached  by  an  envoy  of  the  Texan  secretary 
of  state  bent  upon  ascertaining  the  attitude  of  the  new 
Administration  toward  such  a  project.  The  envoy, 
Eeily,  was  given  no  encouragement,  and  early  in  1842 
he  asked  of  his  government  that  he  be  relieved.  The 
request  was  granted  and  another  envoy,  Van  Zandt, 
was  sent  to  Washington  to  watch  and  report  upon  the 
fluctuations  of  annexation  sentiment  in  both  official 
and  non-official  circles. 

Thus  matters  stood  until  after  the  retirement  of 
Webster  from  the  State  Department,  in  May,  1843.  A 
few  weeks  subsequent  to  that  event,  however,  new 
phases  assumed  by  the  Texan  situation  induced  a 
change  from  a  passive  to  an  active  attitude  on  the  part 


TEXAS,  OREGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    329 

of  the  Tyler  Administration.  Through  the  efforts  of 
British  and  French  agents  a  truce  was  brought  about 
between  Texas  and  Mexico  ;  almost  immediately  there 
after  Van  Zandt  was  instructed  to  inform  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  that  the  subject  of  annexa 
tion  was  no  longer  open  for  discussion  ;  and  rumors 
became  widely  current  to  the  effect  that  British  influ 
ence  was  being  employed  to  bring  about  the  abolition 
of  slavery  within  the  republic.  The  new  secretary  of 
state,  Upshur,  became  so  panic-stricken  as  to  believe 
that  Great  Britain  was  engaged  in  a  gigantic  plot  hav 
ing  as  its  end  nothing  less  than  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  all  parts  of  America.  The  danger  in  Texas  was  be 
lieved  to  be  immediate ;  and  in  order  to  avert  it  the 
President  and  Secretary  Upshur  resolved  upon  an  im 
mediate  negotiation  of  a  treaty  providing  for  the  an 
nexation  of  the  republic  to  the  United  States.  The 
negotiations,  opened  in  October,  1843,  proceeded  slowly 
and  in  secret,  and  it  was  not  until  April  12th  that  the 
annexation  treaty  was  signed.  In  the  meantime  Up 
shur,  killed  in  an  accident  February  28th,  had  been 
succeeded  in  the  State  Department  by  Calhoun. 

During  the  winter  of  1843-1844  Webster  spent  some 
weeks  in  Washington  attending  to  business  in  the  Su 
preme  Court,  and  while  there  he  became  aware  of  the 
Administration's  Texan  project,  despite  the  effort 
which  was  being  made  to  preserve  secrecy.  Further 
more,  he  obtained  his  information  indirectly  from  Up 
shur  himself.  Webster  and  his  successor,  notwith 
standing  political  differences,  were  excellent  friends. 
In  the  course  of  one  of  their  conversations  Upshur 
confided  to  Webster  that  he  disagreed  with  the  Presi 
dent's  policy  in  such  a  measure  that  "he  would  not 
continue  in  office  a  fortnight  if  he  had  not  a  particular 


330  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

object  to  accomplish."  The  nature  of  the  object  was 
not  specified,  but  Webster  related  subsequently  that  he 
"felt  Texas  go  through"  him  and  that  within  two 
days  he  knew  all  about  the  Administration's  dealings 
with  Van  Zandt.  Eeturniug  to  Boston,  he  called  into 
conference  his  friend  Tickuor  and  disclosed  to  him 
what  he  had  learned.  War,  he  declared,  would  be  the 
inevitable  consequence  of  an  annexation  of  Texas  with 
out  the  consent  of  Mexico.  Upon  the  evils  that  would 
follow  an  extension  of  territory  to  the  southward  he 
discoursed  eloquently,  even  passionately,  asserting 
that  he  had  been  unable  to  sleep  at  night  and  that  he 
could  think  of  little  else  by  day.  The  existence  of  the 
Union  itself,  he  was  certain,  would  be  endangered. 
In  the  Intelligencer  he  had  published  already  two 
articles  in  opposition  to  annexation,  and  at  his  sug 
gestion  a  Massachusetts  member  had  introduced  in  the 
national  House  of  Representatives  a  resolution  to  the 
effect  that  no  proposition  for  the  annexation  of  Texas 
ought  to  be  made  or  assented  to  by  the  United  States. 
On  April  22,  1844,  the  Texan  treaty  was  submitted 
by  President  Tyler  to  the  Senate  with  an  urgent  rec 
ommendation  that  it  be  ratified.  Nine  days  later  the 
Whig  national  convention  met  at  Baltimore  and  nomi 
nated  Clay  unanimously,  and  without  a  contest,  upon 
a  platform  devoted  almost  entirely  to  laudation  of  the 
candidate  and  his  running- mate,  Theodore  Freliug- 
huyseu.  In  a  letter  to  friends  in  New  Hampshire, 
written  at  the  middle  of  the  winter,  Webster  had  ex 
pressed  the  hope  that  his  own  name  should  not  be  em 
ployed  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  harmony  among 
men  whose  general  political  principles  were  in  accord, 
or  * '  for  any  cause  whatever  but  a  conscientious  regard 
to  the  good  of  the  country."  It  was  obvious,  he  ad- 


TEXAS,  OKEGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    331 

mitted,  that  the  tendency  of  opinion  among  the  Whigs 
was  at  the  time  "  generally  and  strongly  set  in  another 
direction,"  L  e.,  toward  Clay,  and  the  general  support 
of  this  candidate  was  warmly  advocated.  "  The  elec 
tion  of  the  next  autumn,"  he  wrote,  "  must  involve,  in 
general,  the  same  principles  and  the  same  questions 
that  belonged  to  that  of  1840.  The  cause  I  conceive  to 
be  the  true  cause  of  the  country,  its  paramount  pros 
perity,  and  all  its  great  interests  ;  the  cause  of  its 
peace  and  honor,  the  cause  of  good  government,  true 
liberty,  and  the  preservation  and  integrity  of  the  Con 
stitution  ;  and  none  should  despair  of  its  success."1 
The  events  of  the  months  intervening  between  the 
writing  of  this  letter  and  the  assembling  of  the  Balti 
more  convention  fully  confirmed  the  conviction  that 
the  desire  of  the  party  could  be  met  only  by  the  nomi 
nation  of  Clay. 

The  Democratic  convention  met  also  at  Baltimore, 
May  27th.  In  the  desire  to  vindicate  the  claim  of  the 
Democracy  to  the  nation's  support  in  1840  the  im 
minence  of  the  Texan  question  had  been  somewhat  ob 
scured  and  a  majority  of  the  delegates  came  to  the 
convention  pledged  to  support  the  candidacy  of  Van 
Buren.  To  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party,  however, 
the  nomination  of  an  arch-opponent  of  annexation  was 
objectionable  in  the  extreme,  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
two-thirds  rule  Van  Buren  was  defeated  and  the  nomi 
nation  was  bestowed  upon  the  first  presidential  l  i  dark 
horse"  in  the  history  of  the  country,  James  K.  Polk. 
In  the  platform  it  was  proclaimed  that  "  the  re-occupa 
tion  of  Oregon  and  the  re-annexation  of  Texas  are 
great  American  measures,  which  the  convention  rec- 

1  Webster  to  John  Warren  and  others,  January  3,  1844.  Curtis, 
"  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  238. 


332  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

oniineuds  to  the  cordial  support  of  the  Democracy  of 
the  Union." 

On  June  8th  a  vote  upon  the  ratification  of  the 
Texan  treaty  was  taken  in  the  Senate.  Of  the  twenty- 
nine  Whig  members,  all  save  one  opposed  ratification, 
and  by  a  vote  of  thirty-five  to  sixteen  theproject  was  lost. 
The  issue  was  thereupon  thrown  back  upon  the  country, 
and  in  the  campaign  which  already  was  under  way  it 
preponderated  as  no  single  question  theretofore  had 
ever  preponderated  in  a  national  election.  From  the 
outset  the  Democrats  had  the  advantage  of  a  programme 
which  was  unequivocal  upon  this  all-important  issue 
and  a  candidate  heartily  in  sympathy  with  this  pro 
gramme.  The  Whig  platform  did  not  so  much  as 
mention  Texas,  and  the  pronouncements  upon  the 
subject  which  Clay  was  driven  to  make  were  of  such  a 
character  that  they  cost  the  party  heavily  in  both 
North  and  South.  No  one  recognized  more  clearly 
than  did  Webster  the  essential  weakness  of  the  Whig 
position.  No  course  was  open,  however,  save  to 
support  the  party  and  its  candidate.  Even  though 
Clay's  attitude  upon  the  Texan  question  was  involved 
in  certain  obscurities,  he  was  unquestionably  opposed 
to  annexation  under  existing  conditions  ;  and  upon  all 
other  important  questions  of  public  policy  his  position 
was  entirely  satisfactory.  In  the  campaign  Webster 
therefore  took  a  part  of  very  considerable  activity. 
Of  the  numerous  speeches  which  he  delivered  the  most 
important  were  those  at  Albany  (August  27th),  Phila 
delphia  (October  1st),  and  Valley  Forge  (October  3d). 
The  subject  to  which  he  devoted  most  attention  was 
the  tariff,  but  he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  allusion  to 
the  question  of  Texas  and,  at  Valley  Forge  especially, 
to  argue  against  the  advisability  of  annexation,  His 


TEXAS,  OKEGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    333 

contention  was  not  simply  that  the  extension  of  slave 
territory  was  objectionable,  but  that  the  area  of  the 
country  was  already  so  vast  that  any  annexation  was 
for  the  present  undesirable.1 

The  result  of  the  contest  was  close.  The  popular 
vote  of  the  Whigs  fell  but  38,000  short  of  that  of  the 
Democrats  ;  that  of  the  Democrats  lacked  more  than 
24,000  of  equaling  that  of  the  Whigs  and  the  Liberty 
party  combined.  But  of  the  275  electoral  votes  170  fell 
to  Polk,  and  with  them  the  victory.  Inasmuch  as  the 
votes  for  the  Liberty  candidate  were  cast  chiefly  by 
men  who  with  but  two  parties  in  the  field  would  have 
supported  Clay  against  Polk,  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much 
to  say  that  "the  Abolitionists  defeated  Clay."  But 
it  does  not  follow,  as  some  have  assumed,  that  the 
Whigs  could  have  won  with  Webster  as  a  candidate. 
His  candidacy  upon  the  only  sort  of  a  platform  upon 
which  he  could  have  stood,  namely,  one  declaring 
squarely  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  would  un 
questionably  have  attracted  many  votes  in  Northern 
states  which  were  lost  to  Clay.  On  the  other  hand  it 
might  well  have  involved  the  loss  of  certain  states, 
notably  Maryland,  Delaware,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
and  North  Carolina,  which  were  carried  by  Clay. 

By  the  outcome  of  the  election  the  early  annexation 
of  Texas  was  rendered  inevitable.  In  his  annual 
message  of  December  3d  President  Tyler  maintained 
that  the  question,  having  been  left  at  the  previous 
session  without  settlement,  had  "referred  itself"  to 
the  people,  and  that  by  the  election  of  Polk  a  control  - 

1  For  these  speeches  see  ' '  Works  of  Webster, ' '  Vol.  II,  pp.  217-293, 
and  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  217-293;  for  other 
speeches  delivered  during  the  campaign,  "Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  XIII,  pp.  196-305. 

2Stanwood,  "The  Presidency,"  p.  224. 


334  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ling  majority  of  the  people,  and  a  majority  of  the  states, 
had  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  annexationist  pro 
gramme  ; l  and  there  is  no  ground  upon  which  the 
validity  of  this  interpretation  can  be  called  seriously 
in  question.  To  both  the  President  and  the  Democratic 
leaders  in  Congress  further  delay  appeared  not  only 
unnecessary  but  dangerous.  The  opposition  was  still 
strong,  and  there  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
two-thirds  majority  requisite  for  the  ratification  of  a 
treaty  in  the  Senate  could  yet  be  obtained.  The  plan 
of  action  hit  upon  by  the  annexationists,  therefore,  was 
one  whose  execution  required  the  concurrence  of  but 
a  simple  majority  in  the  two  houses,  L  e.,  that  of 
enactment  by  joint  resolution.  The  procedure  was  un 
usual,  and  by  many  persons  its  propriety  was  called  in 
question.  But  it  was  simple  and  certain.  The  resolu 
tion  in  accordance  with  which  the  President  was 
authorized  to  offer  to  Texas  the  privilege  of  becoming 
a  state  of  the  Union  was  carried  in  both  houses  in 
February,  1845.  In  July  the  proposition  was  accepted 
by  a  Texan  convention,  and  in  October  the  act  of  the 
convention  was  ratified  by  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  winter  of  1844-1845,  Webster 
had  been  elected  to  the  Senate  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
by  the  retirement  of  Choate.  His  term  began  March 
4,  1845  ;  so  that  when,  at  the  convening  of  Congress  in 
the  following  December,  a  proposal  was  forthcoming 
to  complete  the  Texan  transaction  by  the  admission  of 
the  former  republic  to  statehood  he  was  in  a  position 
to  take  part  officially  in  the  discussions  which  ensued. 
He  recognized,  however,  that  what  had  been  done 
could  not  be  undone  and  that  resistance  to  the  pro- 

1  Richardson,  "Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,"  Vol.  IV, 
p.  343. 


TEXAS,  OKEGON,  ELECTION  OP  1844    335 

gramme  of  the  Administration  was  futile.  Accordingly, 
when  a  resolution  for  the  admission  of  Texas  passed 
the  House  and  came  up  for  consideration  in  the  Senate 
he  confined  his  efforts  to  a  very  brief  speech,  December 
22d,  stating  his  objections  to  the  entire  line  of  policy 
of  which  the  measure  in  hand  was  but  the  culminating 
stroke.  He  declared  that  he  had  long  been  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  "  of  very  dangerous  tendency  and 
doubtful  consequences ' '  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of 
the  country,  and  that  he  had  i  i  always  wished  that  this 
country  should  exhibit  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  the 
example  of  a  great,  rich,  and  powerful  republic,  which 
is  not  possessed  by  a  spirit  of  aggrandizement. "  He 
asserted,  furthermore,  that  while  he  was  disposed  to 
uphold  in  every  respect  the  existing  arrangements  and 
compromises  of  the  Constitution,  he  should  never  be  in 
favor  of  the  admission  to  the  Union  of  states  possess 
ing  the  peculiar  rights  in  respect  to  slavery  which  had 
been  accorded  the  original  members  of  the  Union,  and 
he  avowed  the  opinion  that  if  Texas  were  to  be  brought 
into  the  Union  at  all  the  act  ought  to  have  been  per 
formed  through  the  medium  of  diplomatic  adjustment, 
sanctioned  by  treaty.  "  I  agree,"  he  affirmed  in  clos 
ing,  "  with  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  legislature 
of  Massachusetts  j  I  agree  with  the  great  mass  of  her 
people  ;  I  reaffirm  what  I  have  said  and  written  during 
the  last  eight  years,  at  various  times,  against  this 
annexation.  I  here  record  my  own  dissent  and  oppo 
sition  ;  and  I  here  express  and  place  on  record  also 
the  dissent  and  protest  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts."  l 
The  protest  was  recorded  ;  but,  as  wasentirely  expected, 
it  was  without  effect  upon  the  actual  drift  of  events. 

144  Works  of    Webster,"    Vol.    V,    p.    59;     "Writings    and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IX,  p.  59. 


336  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

The  resolution  for  admission,  passed  in  both  branches 
of  Congress  by  large  majorities,  was  approved  by  tie 
President  December  29th  ;  and,  February  19,  1846,  tie 
state  government  of  Texas  was  formally  installed. 

The  expansionist  sentiment  by  which  the  country  was 
swept  during  the  decade  1840-1850  found  an  outlet  not 
alone  toward  the  south  but  also  toward  the  northwest 
In  the  same  paragraph  in  which  the  "re-annexation  ' 
of  Texas  was  demanded  the  Democratic  platform  of 
1844  called  insistently  for  the  "  re- occupation  "  of  Ore 
gon,  affirming  that  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the 
whole  of  the  Oregon  territory  was  ' t  clear  and  unques 
tionable,"  and  that  no  portion  of  the  territory  u  ought 
to  be  ceded  to  England  or  any  other  power."  And  in 
his  inaugural  address  President  Polk  reiterated  the 
declarations  of  his  party,  asserting  that  the  just  claim 
of  the  United  States  extended  northward  to  the  par 
allel  54°  40'  and  making  it  clear  that  it  would  be  a  part 
of  his  policy  to  see  that  the  claim  was  enforced. 
Within  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Oregon  country 
there  had  appeared  at  one  time  or  another  four 
claimants — Spain,  Russia,  Great  Britain,  and  the 
United  States.  By  the  Spanish  treaty  of  1819,  fixing 
the  forty-second  parallel  as  the  northern  boundary  of 
New  Mexico,  one  of  the  four  was  eliminated.  Another, 
Russia,  yielded  her  claims  in  treaties  of  1824  and  1825 
with  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  respectively, 
accepting  54°  40'  as  her  southern  limit.  Between  the 
other  two  claimants  an  agreement  for  joint  occupation, 
entered  into  first  in  1818,  was  continued  throughout  a 
period  of  twenty-eight  years,  upon  the  understanding 
that  either  party  had  a  right  to  terminate  the  agree 
ment  on  twelve  months'  notice.  In  1824,  and  again 
in  1826,  the  United  States  proposed  the  settlement  of 


TEXAS,  OREGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    337 

the  Oregon  question  by  the  simple  extension  of  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  to  the  Pacific.  But  Great  Britain 
held  out  for  the  Columbia  Eiver  as  a  boundary,  and  no 
compromise  was  found  possible.  During  the  period 
of  the  Yan  Buren  and  Tyler  administrations  both  the 
British  and  American  populations  in  Oregon  under 
went  a  considerable  increase,  and  the  question  of  the 
eventual  sovereignty  of  the  territory  became  rapidly 
more  pressing.  It  was  the  judgment  of  Webster  that 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  should  be  made  the  boundary. 
When,  however,  in  1842  he  proposed  that  the  subject 
should  be  included  in  the  treaty  of  Washington  he 
found  that  nothing  could  be  done,  because  Lord  Ash- 
burton  had  received  no  instructions  upon  it. 

As  the  issue  grew  in  public  interest  the  extreme 
position  maintained  by  the  British  authorities  operated 
to  drive  more  zealous  Americans  to  a  corresponding 
extreme,  and  by  1844  the  sentiment  "  54°  40'  or  fight " 
was  so  popular  that  the  Democrats  were  able  to  em 
ploy  it  with  the  most  telling  effect  in  the  campaign. 
Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Polk  Administration 
the  effort  to  bring  about  an  adjustment  by  negotia 
tion  was  renewed.  July  12,  1845,  Secretary  Buchanan 
again  offered  the  line  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel.  Two 
weeks  later,  however,  the  offer  was  refused  by  the 
British  minister,  Pakenham,  without  consultation  with 
his  government,  and  in  terms  that  were  rather  un 
necessarily  curt.  A  mouth  later  the  proposal  was 
withdrawn,  the  negotiation  was  broken  off,  and  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  the  whole  of  the  territory 
in  question  was  reasserted.  So  intense  was  the  feeling 
upon  both  sides  that  the  two  nations  were  clearly  upon 
the  brink  of  war.  On  November  7th  Webster  deliv 
ered  a  powerful  speech  to  his  fellow-townsmen  gathered 

1 


338  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

iii  Faueuil  Hall  in  which  he  contended  for  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  as  the  natural  boundary  and  urged  tha: , 
despite  the  critical  character  of  the  situation,  peace 
could  be,  and  must  be,  preserved.  The  speech  w<;s 
translated  into  most  of  the  languages  of  European! 
was  widely  influential  in  inclining  the  continent!. 1 
peoples  to  regard  as  necessary  and  just  the  solution 
which  in  it  was  proposed. 

At  the  opening  of  the  first  session  of  the  Twenty - 
ninth  Congress,  December  2,  1845,  the  President  sent 
in  a  message  reasserting  forcefully  the  claim  to  the 
whole  of  the  contested  territory,  and  recommending 
that  provision  be  made  by  law  for  the  year's  notice  to 
Great  Britain  which  was  required  to  terminate  the  con 
vention  of  1827.  On  December  15th  General  Cass  in 
troduced  in  the  Senate  resolutions  calling  for  an  in 
vestigation  of  the  state  of  the  national  defenses,  assign 
ing  as  a  reason  for  such  an  investigation  the  pen  ding- 
dispute  with  Great  Britain  relative  to  Oregon  ;  and 
three  days  later  a  joint  resolution  was  introduced  by 
Senator  Allen  of  Ohio  meeting  the  President's  desire 
by  authorizing  him  to  give  notice  to  Great  Britain 
forthwith.  On  the  ground  that  they  might  have  a 
tendency  to  create  unnecessary  alarm,  Webster  spoke 
against  the  Cass  resolutions  ;  and  in  opposition  to  the 
Allen  resolution,  which  was  before  the  Senate  through 
several  months,  although  not  formally  discussed  un 
til  February  10,  1846,  he  took  occasion,  February  26th, 
to  speak  at  some  length.  Amended  to  provide  that 
the  President  should  give  notice  to  Great  Britain  at 
his  discretion,  the  Allen  resolution  was  adopted  by 
Congress  and  approved  by  the  President  in  April, 
and  on  May  21st  the  notice  was  given. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  negotiations  had  been  re- 


TEXAS,  OBEGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    339 

sumed.  Pakenham's  summary  rejection  of  the  pro 
posal  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  was  disavowed  by  the 
British  ministry,  and  although  much  valuable  time  was 
wasted  in  the  effort  to  induce  the  United  States  formally 
to  renew  the  offer,  in  the  end  Great  Britain  herself  trans 
mitted  to  Washington  the  draft  of  a  treaty  in  which  the 
parallel  named  was  stipulated  as  a  boundary.  Such  an 
overture  Webster,  through  private  channels,  had  urged 
the  British  authorities  to  make,  and  there  is  reason  for 
thinking  that  his  suggestions  had  been  very  influential. 
Somewhat  taken  aback  by  the  unexpected  turn  of  the 
affair,  the  President  departed  from  custom  and  asked  of 
the  Senate  its  opinion  of  the  proposed  treaty  before  giv 
ing  or  withholding  his  own  assent.  The  advice  which 
he  received,  namely,  to  make  the  most  of  the  oppor 
tunity,  was  followed,  and  the  treaty,  forthwith  submit 
ted  formally  to  the  Senate,  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of 
forty-one  to  fourteen.  The  confidence  which  Webster 
had  entertained  from  the  first  that  the  exercise  of 
patience  would  make  possible  a  fair  and  peaceful  com 
promise  was  abundantly  sustained. 

During  the  course  of  the  debates  upon  the  Oregon 
question  the  treaty  of  Washington  was  alluded  to  sev 
eral  times  in  a  disparaging  manner,  and  the  charge 
was  made  that  in  the  negotiation  of  that  instrument 
Webster  had  yielded  territory  which  belonged  prop 
erly  to  the  United  States.  One  member  of  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives,  in  particular,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll 
of  Pennsylvania,  angered  by  Webster's  friendliness 
toward  Great  Britain,  allowed  himself  to  indulge  in  a 
savage  attack  upon  the  Ashburton  negotiation,  upon 
the  treaty  terminating  it,  and  upon  Webster's  per 
sonal  ability  and  integrity.  And  certain  of  the 
charges  which  were  made— especially  that  the  counsel 


340  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

of  McLeod  was  paid  by  the  United  States,  that  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  was  directed  to 
take  charge  of  McLeod' s  defense,  and  that  Webster 
had  written  to  Governor  Seward,  of  New  York,  that :.f 
McLeod  were  not  released  the  city  of  New  York 
would  be  "laid  in  ashes  " — were  repeated  by  Danul 
S.  Dickinson  of  New  York  in  the  Senate.  In  the  ag 
gregate,  the  charges  were  equivalent  to  an  accusation 
of  gross  malfeasance  in  office.  Exasperated  by  the 
conduct  of  his  opponents,  Webster  introduced  a  resolu 
tion,  March  20th,  asking  that  the  entire  correspondence 
pertaining  to  the  Ash  burton  negotiation  be  laid  before 
Congress.  The  resolution  was  adopted,  the  corre 
spondence  was  brought  in,  and  on  April  6th  and  7tli 
Webster  delivered  the  very  lengthy,  carefully  pre 
pared,  and  virile  speech  known  commonly  as  thr 
" Defense  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington."  So  intense 
was  the  speaker's  indignation  that  for  almost  the  only 
time  during  his  entire  public  career  he  permitted  him 
self  to  indulge  in  personal  invective.  He  refuted 
completely  the  charges  bearing  upon  the  McLeod  af 
fair,  explained  and  defended  the  treaty  of  1842,  omit 
ting  to  speak  of  no  one  of  the  half-dozen  important 
issues  which  entered  into  the  negotiation  of  thai 
agreement,  and  challenged  his  hearers  and  the  country 
at  large  to  show  that  any  essential  interest  had  been 
neglected  or  that  anything  had  been  done  "  to  tarnish 
the  lustre  of  the  American  name  and  character."  } 

Under  the   attack  which  was  leveled  against  him 
Ingersoll  waxed  yet  more  bitter.     Determined  to  fol 
low  up  the  contest,  he  now  obtained  from  subordinates 
in  -the  State  Department  certain  papers  which  he  pro 

'"  Works    of  Webster,"    Vol.  V,  pp.  78-150;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IX,  pp.  78-150. 


TEXAS,  OBEGON,  ELECTION  OF  1844    341 

fessed  to  regard  as  proofs  of  Webster's  misdemeanors 
and  introduced  a  resolution  calling  for  an  account  of 
all  payments  from  the  secret  service  fund,  for  all  cor 
respondence  pertaining  to  the  McLeod  case,  and  for  a 
variety  of  other  documentary  materials.  The  resolu 
tion  was  adopted,  but  the  President  replied  to  the  call 
of  the  House  by  saying  that  he  did  not  feel  justified 
in  violating  a  fixed  practice  by  revealing  the  uses  of 
the  secret  service  fund,  and  accordingly  the  object 
which  Ingersoll  sought  was  not  attained.  In  the  Sen 
ate  a  resolution  of  similar  purport  was  defeated  al 
most  unanimously.  Ingersoll,  however,  reiterated  his 
charges  and  insisted  that  they  were  susceptible  of 
proof.  Eeduced  to  simplest  form,  they  were  (1)  that 
Webster  had  violated  all  precedent  by  taking  into  his 
possession  the  fund  for  contingent  expenses,  (2)  that 
he  had  used  a  portion  of  this  fund  for  corrupt  party 
purposes,  and  (3)  that  he  had  left  office  indebted  to 
that  fund  and  had  not  been  able  to  make  a  settlement 
until  after  he  had  been  two  years  out  of  the  State  De 
partment.  Following  prolonged  and  embittered  de 
bate  the  charges  were  referred  for  investigation  to  two 
select  committees.  Ex-President  Tyler  appeared  vol 
untarily  before  these  committees  to  testify  in  Web 
ster's  behalf,  and  when,  in  June,  1846,  the  reports 
were  brought  in  they  showed  that,  while  Webster  dur 
ing  his  tenure  of  the  secretaryship  of  state  had  been 
grossly  careless  in  the  handling  of  his  accounts,  all 
vouchers  had  been  made  up  eventually,  and  of  the  im 
proper  use  of  funds  there  was  no  evidence  whatsoever. 
The  reports  were  laid  upon  the  table  and  no  further 
action  was  taken.1  As  is  remarked  by  one  writer,  this 

1  For  interesting  correspondence  relating  to  the  Ingersoll  charges 
see  Van  Tyne,  "Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.  309-324. 


342  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

rather  sorry  affair  is  of  interest  now  ' l  merely  as  show 
ing  how  deeply  rooted  was  Mr.  Webster's  habitual 
carelessness  in  money  matters,  even  when  it  was  liabh 
to  expose  him  to  very  grave  imputations,  and  what  a 
very  dangerous  man  he  was  to  arouse  and  put  on  the 
defensive."1 

By  accepting  at  this  time  an  annuity  consisting  o1' 
the  interest  on  a  fund  of  thirty-seven  thousand  dollars 
raised  for  his  use  by  a  number  of  Massachusetts  friends 
and  admirers,  Webster  laid  himself  open  to  a  charge 
of  another  sort — that,  namely,  of  having  become  the 
pensioned  agent  of  New  England  men  of  wealth,  and 
especially  of  the  manufacturing  interests.  There  is  no 
evidence  that  any  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  fund 
expected  to  derive  from  the  gift  any  personal  benefit ; 
likewise  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  Webster  re 
garded  himself  thereafter  as  any  less  free  than  before 
to  speak  and  to  vote  independently.  And  it  must  bo 
remembered  that  two  generations  ago  the  subsidizing 
of  public  men  in  some  such  manner  was,  if  not  more 
common,  at  least  more  open,  than  to-day.  Granted, 
however,  that  the  man  of  ability  who  cuts  himself  oil' 
by  a  career  of  public  service  from  the  affluence  attain 
able  by  other  men  is  entitled  to  some  sort  of  compen 
sation,  it  remains  a  serious  question  of  ethics  as  to 
whether  he  may  honorably  become  the  beneficiary  of 
private  munificence.  To  do  so,  even  in  Webster's 
time,  meant  to  incur  a  certain  amount  of  criticism. 
To  do  so  to-day  would  mean  irreparable  loss  of  dignity 
and  reputation. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  MEXICAN  WAR  AND  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850 

DURING  the  later  summer  of  1846  Webster  partici 
pated  with  some  vigor  in  the  debates  which  preceded 
the  enactment  of  fresh  legislation  upon  the  two  closely 
related  subjects  of  the  tariff  and  the  independent 
treasury.  Following  the  establishment  of  the  Polk 
Administration  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Eobert  J. 
Walker,  submitted  to  Congress,  in  December,  1845,  a 
comprehensive  report  recommending  the  adoption  of  a 
revenue  tariff  based  upon  ad  valorem  rather  than  spe 
cific  duties,  and  on  April  14,  1846,  an  elaborate  meas 
ure  framed  in  accordance  with  this  recommendation 
was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
When  the  bill  came  before  the  Senate  Webster  spoke  y 
upon  it  at  much  length,  admonishing  the  Administra-^ 
tion  and  its  adherents  not  to  make  this  "leap  in  the 
dark,  in  the  early  part  of  its  career,  unnecessarily,  in 
the  midst  of  41  war,  a  war  of  which  no  one  can  see  the 
end,  and  of  which  no  man  can  now  reckon  the  ex 
pense."1  The  bill  was  passed,  and  July  30th  it  was 
approved  by  the  President.  But  prior  to  its  enact 
ment  Webster  was  instrumental  in  causing  to  be 
stricken  from  it  an  extraordinary  provision  whereby 
in  cases  of  undervaluation  with  intent  to  defraud  the 
goods  so  undervalued  should  be  seized  and  sold,  the 
importer  being  paid  the  value  of  the  goods  as  rated  in 
his  invoice,  with  five  per  cent,  in  addition. 

l"  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  161-243;    "Writings  and 
Speeches,1'  Vol.  IX,  pp.  161-243, 


344  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

After  five  years  of  fiscal  chaos  succeeding  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  independent  treasury  system  by  the  Whigs 
in  1841,  a  law  reestablishing  that  system  was  carried 
through  Congress  and,  August  6,  1846,  approved  by 
the  President.  This  measure  also  Webster  felt  bound 
:w-,  to  oppose,  and  in  remarks  which  he  made  upon  it  a 
few  days  prior  to  the  final  vote  in  the  Senate  he  de 
fended  his  opposition  upon  the  ground  that  the  pro 
posed  change  would  embarrass  seriously  the  fiscal 
operations  of  the  government  and  recommended  that 
further  consideration  of  the  subject  be  postponed  to 
the  next  Congress.1  The  system  to  which  return  was 
now  made  proved,  however,  not  so  disadvantageous  as 
had  been  predicted  ;  in  fact,  until  the  rise  of  the  un 
usual  circumstances  occasioned  by  the  Civil  War,  it  was 
operated  with  substantial  success. 

Meanwhile  the  annexation  of  Texas  had  borne  its 
inevitable  fruit  and  the  United  States  was  at  war  with 
Mexico.  Diplomatic  relations  between  the  two  coun 
tries  were  severed  as  early  as  March,  1845  ;  in  June  of 
the  same  year  General  Taylor  was  ordered  to  advance 
into  Texas,  and  in  August  he  did  so  ;  during  the 
winter  of  1845-1846  the  unsuccessful  mission  of  John 
Slidell  demonstrated  the  futility  of  further  attempts  at 
negotiation  ;  on  January  13,  1846,  Taylor  was  in 
structed  to  advance  to  the  Eio  Grande  ;  on  April  24th 
the  first  skirmish  between  Taylor's  troops  and  the  Mex 
icans  took  place ;  and  on  May  llth  President  Polk 
transmitted  to  Congress  the  famous  message  avowing 
that  American  blood  had  been  shed  on  American  soil 
and  recommending  an  immediate  declaration  of  war. 
The  recommendation  was  carried  into  effect  forthwith 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  244-252;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IX,  pp.  244-252. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAK  345 

by  overwhelming  majorities  iii  both  houses.  It  hap 
pened  that  at  the  time  when  war  was  declared  Webster 
was  not  in  Washington.  He  therefore  voted  neither 
for  nor  against  the  declaration.  Had  he  been  in  his 
seat,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  voted  in  opposition, 
as  did  his  Massachusetts  colleague,  John  Davis.1  I  He 
regarded  the  annexation  of  Texas  by  the  United  States 
as  insufficient  cause  for  war  upon  the  part  of  Mexico.? 
At  the  same  time,  he  had  predicted  that  from  the  an 
nexation  a  war  would  spring,  and  it  was  only  the  sud 
denness  of  the  declaration  of  May  12th  that  surprised 
him.  /  On  receipt  of  the  intelligence  he  hastened  to  the 
capital,  and  two  days  subsequently  he  was  in  his  seat. 

^The  position  which  Webster  maintained  throughout 
the  Mexican  contest  was  that  of  a  candid,  although  by 
no  means  factious  or  relentless,  critic  of  the  policies  of 
the  Administration.  After  the  actual  outbreak  of 
hostilities,  and  when  it  was  made  apparent  that  only 
through  the  President's  policy  of  "  conquering  a 
peace  "  could  normal  relations  between  the  two  coun 
tries  be  restored,  he  was  not  disinclined  to  advocate  the 
prosecution  of  the  contest  to  a  decisive  conclusion.^ 
The  President's  course,  nonejthe  less,  in  precipitating 
a  situation  which  rendered  war  inevitable  was  criti 
cized  as  being  an  infraction  of  the  power  of  Congress 
to  declare  war,  and  the  method  which  the  Administra 
tion  employed  in  the  raising  of  troops  was  more  than 
once  subjected  to  unsparing  attack.  That  method 
comprised  neither  the  enlistment  of  volunteers  officered 
by  the  United  States  nor  the  calling  into  service 
of  the  militia  of  the  states,  but  rather  the  creation 

1  Davis  and  Thomas  Clayton  of  Delaware  were  the  only  senators 
who  voted  against  the  declaration.  Three  members,  including 
Calhoun,  refrained  from  voting. 


3^6  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

of  a  nondescript  body  of  troops,  consisting  of  vol 
unteers  organized  into  regiments  and  officered  by  the 
states.  The  efficiency  of  a  force  raised  after  this  man 
ner  was  called  in  serious  question,  and  it  was  main 
tained  that  the  process  could  not  be  squared  with  the 
grant  of  military  powers  conferred  in  the  Consti 
tution. 

The  aspect  of  the  war  which,  however,  aroused 
deepest  apprehension  was  that  relating  to  the  probable 
extension  of  territory  on  the  southwest  and  the  effects 
of  such  extension  upon  the  status  of  slavery.  ^Through 
out  the  earlier  portion  of  his  public  career  "Webster 
had  been  known  as  one  of  the  most  outspoken  of  op 
ponents  of  the  "  peculiar  institution.'7  In  1819,  when 
the  Missouri  question  was  pending,  he  had  served  as 
chairman  of  a  committee  of  a  public  meeting  in  Boston 
by  which  was  adopted  a  memorial  appealing  to  "  the 
justice  and  the  wisdom  of  the  national  councils  to  pre 
vent  the  further  progress  of  a  great  and  serious  evil." 
In  the  Plymouth  oration  of  1820  he  had  denounced  the 
African  slave  trade  in  sentences  of  fiery  eloquence. 
In  the  debate  with  Hayne,  while  avowing  that  he  was, 
and  ever  had  been,  of  the  opinion  that  the  maintenance 
of  slavery  within  the  states  was  a  matter  of  domestic 
policy  with  which  the  federal  government  had  noth 
ing  to  do,  he  declared  unequi  vocally  his  belief  that  do 
mestic  slavery  was  "  one  of  the  greatest  evils,  both 
moral  and  political."  During  the  controversy,  opened 
on  a  serious  scale  in  1836,  over  the  reception  of  anti- 
slavery  petitions  in  Congress  it  fell  to  him  occasionally 
to  present  such  petitions  ;  and  although,  like  John 
Qnincy  Adams,  the  vigilant  champion  of  the  right  of 

<  petition  in  the  lower  house,  he  was  no  abolitionist,  he 
was  insistent  upon  the  propriety  of  such  of  the  peti- 


THE  MEXICAN  WAE  347 

tions  as  related  to  the  District  of  Columbia  and  upon 
the  imperative  necessity  of  the  safeguarding  of  the 
privilege  of  petition  as  guaranteed  in  the  Constitution. 
"More  than  all,"  he  wrote  in  1838,  "  it  is  my  opinion 
that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  an  unques 
tionable  constitutional  right  to  petition  Congress  for 
the  restraint  or  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade 
within  the  said  District  ;  and  that  all  such  petitions 
being  respectfully  written,  ought  to  be  received,  read, 
referred,  and  considered  in  the  same  manner  as  peti 
tions  on  other  important  subjects  are  received,  read, 
referred,  and  considered  ;  and  without  reproach  or  re 
buke  to  the  authors  or  signers  of  such  petitions.  "  l 

Against  Calhouu's  bill  of  1837  proposing  to  author 
ize  postmasters  under  certain  conditions  to  confiscate 
abolitionist  literature  deposited  in  the  United  States/ 
mails  he  spoke  and  voted,  although  again  from  a  de-T  s 
sire  to  defend  a  constitutional  principle  rather  than 
from  sympathy  with  the  abolitionists.  "My  own 
opinion  is,"  he  none  the  less  wrote  soon  afterward  to 
Benjamin  Sillirnan,  "that  the  anti-slavery  feeling  is 
growing  stronger  and  stronger  every  day  ;  and  while 
we  must  be  careful  to  countenance  nothing  which  vio 
lates  the  Constitution  or  invades  the  right  of  others,  it 
is  our  policy,  in  my  opinion,  most  clearly  not  to  yield 
the  substantial  truth,  for  the  sake  of  conciliating  those 
whom  we  never  can  conciliate,  at  the  expense  of  the 
loss  of  the  friendship  and  support  of  those  great  masses 
of  good  men  who  are  interested  in  the  anti  -slavery 
cause."  2 


1  Webster  to  Peck,  January  11,  1838.     Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  32. 

2  Webster  to  Silliman,  January  28,  1838.     Van  Tyne,  "Letters 
of  Webster,  "p.  211. 


348  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

As  his  anxiety  for  tlie  future  of  the  Union  increased 
Webster  fell  back  definitely  upon  the  position  to 
which  he  adhered  throughout  the  later  portion  of  his 
life,  that,  namely,  of  recognizing  the  absolute  sover 
eignty  of  the  states  in  the  control  of  their  domestic 
institutions  and  the  claims  of  the  slaveholders  to  the 
protection  of  their  interests  in  all  respects  required  by 
the  letter  or  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  while  at  the 
same  time  opposing  with  determination  the  magnify 
ing  of  the  slavery  problem  through  the  admission  of 
new  slave  states  or  the  extension  of  territory  in  which 
the  holding  of  slaves  should  be  legal.  |  This  position 
was  defined  with  clearness  in  that  portion  of  the  speech 
in  Niblo's  Garden  in  1837  which  related  to  Texas. 
u  I  frankly  avow,"  he  asserted,  uniy  entire  unwilling 
ness  to  do  anything  that  shall  extend  the  slavery  of 
the  African  race  on  this  continent,  or  add  other  slave- 
holding  states  to  the  Union.  When  I  say  that  I  re 
gard  slavery  in  itself  as  a  great  moral,  social,  and 
political  evil  I  only  use  the  language  which  has  been 
adopted  by  distinguished  men,  themselves  the  citizens 
of  slaveholdiug  states.  I  shall  do  nothing,  therefore, 
to  favor  or  encourage  its  further  extension.  We  have 
slavery  already  amongst  us.  The  Constitution  found 
it  in  the  Union  ;  it  recognized  it,  and  gave  it  solemn 
guaranties.  To  the  full  extent  of  these  guaranties  we 
are  all  bound,  in  honor,  in  justice,  and  by  the  Con 
stitution.  .  .  .  Slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  states, 
is  beyond  the  reach  of  Congress.  ...  I  shall  con 
cur,  therefore,  in  no  act,  no  measure,  no  menace,  no 
indication  of  purpose,  which  shall  interfere  or  threaten 
to  interfere  with  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  several 
states  over  the  subject  of  slavery  as  it  exists  within 
their  respective  limits.  .  .  .  But  when  we  come 


THE  MEXICAN  WAK  349 

to  speak  of  admitting  new  states,  the  subject  assumes 
an  entirely  different  aspect."  l 

The  attitude  herein  defined  was  one  which  was 
shared  by  an  increasing  number  of  Northern  people, 
but  it  was  by  no  means  that  of  the  abolitionists,  nor 
even  of  men  who,  while  not  identified  with  the  aboli 
tionist  movement,  felt  more  keenly  than  did  Webster 
concerning  the  moral,  non-juristic  aspects  of  the  slavery 
problem.  There  can  be  no  blinking  the  fact  that  as 
early  as  1838  or  1839  Webster  was  being  charged  with 
indifference  upon  the  slavery  issue,  and  even  with  de 
liberate  subservience  to  the  slavery  interests.  In 
March,  1838,  Adams  wrote  in  his  Diary  that  the  Mas 
sachusetts  delegation  was  truckling  to  the  South  to 
court  favor  for  Webster  and  that  Webster  himself  was 
1 1  tampering  with  the  South  on  the  slavery  and  the 
Texas  question.' '  In  1839  Joshua  E.  Giddings  de 
clared  it  ' i  impossible  for  any  man  who  submitted  so 
quietly  to  the  dictation  of  slavery  as  Mr.  Webster  to 
command  that  influence  which  was  necessary  to  con 
stitute  a  successful  politician."  In  the  secretaryship 
of  state  it  devolved  upon  Webster  upon  several  oc 
casions,  notably  in  the  Creole  case,  to  defend  the 
interests  of  slaveholders  in  such  a  manner  as  to  excite 
especially  the  indignation  of  men  who  denied  the  obli 
gation  of  the  national  government  to  protect  the  alleged 
rights  of  slaveholders  when  such  rights  were  imperiled 
upon  the  high  seas  or  in  territory  belonging  to  a 
European  power.  The  principles  of  law  which  were 
acted  upon  in  the  cases  referred  to  were  in  all  essential 
respects  sound,  but  the  effect  upon  Webster's  pop 
ularity  among  the  more  advanced  anti-slavery  elements 
was  disastrous. 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  p.  356. 


350  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

As  has  been  observed,  the  aspect  of  the  Mexican 
war  regarding  which  Webster  felt  deepest  concern  was 
the  prospect  of  the  acquisition  of  new  territory,  en 
tailing  a  fresh  conflict  upon  the  territorial  status  of 
slavery.  February  1,  1847,  while  there  was  pending 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  a  bill  to  appropriate 
three  million  dollars  to  defray  any  extraordinary  ex 
penses  that  might  be  incurred  in  bringing  the  war  to 
a  close,  there  was  introduced  a  proviso  to  the  effect 
that  from  all  territory  subsequently  acquired  by  the 
United  States  slavery  should  be  forever  excluded. 
During  the  previous  year  a  two-million  bill  had  been 
amended  to  provide  that  from  all  territory  which 
might  be  acquired  from  Mexico  slavery  should  be 
excluded  j  but  the  amendment,  although  voted  in  the 
House,  had  been  lost  in  the  Senate.  The  proviso  of 
1847,  like  its  predecessor,  was  introduced  by  David 
A.  Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania,  but  in  reality  it  emanated 
from  an  anti-slavery  Democratic  congressman  from 
Ohio,  Jacob  Brinkerhoff.  Of  the  utility  of  such  a 
pledge  Webster  was  doubtful.  Better  by  far,  it 
seemed  to  him,  would  be  the  policy  of  avoiding  the 

ue  altogether  by  refusing  to  annex  any  more  terri 
tory  at  all.  Accordingly,  within  a  fortnight  after  the 
introduction  of  the  second  Wilmot  proviso  he  sub 
mitted  to  the  Senate  two  resolutions,  one  declaring 
that  the  war  with  Mexico  ought  not  to  be  prosecuted 
for  the  acquisition  of  territory  to  form  new  states,  the 
other  requiring  that  the  Mexican  authorities  be  in 
formed  that  the  United  States  was  not  seeking  the 
dismemberment  of  the  Mexican  republic  and  that  she 
was  now  ready  to  treat  for  peace.  These  resolutions 
did  not  come  to  a  vote  ;  but  on  March  1st  a  similar 
proposal  emanating  from  a  Southern  Whig,  Berrien 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  351 

of  Georgia,  was  rejected,  twenty-nine  to  twenty-four, 
by  an  exact  party  division.  The  Democrats,  both 
Northern  and  Southern,  were  bent  upon  the  annexation 
of  Mexican  territory,  and  no  argument  could  turn 
them  from  their  purpose.  Many  of  the  Northern 
members  of  the  party  favored  the  adoption  of  the 
Wilmot  proviso ;  but,  proviso  or  no  proviso,  the 
annexation  must  take  place.  By  the  Southern  ele 
ment  the  proviso  was,  of  course,  opposed. 

Following  the  rejection  of  Berrien's  resolution  Web 
ster  addressed  the  Senate  in  words  of  solemn  warning, 
denouncing  the  equivocal  attitude  of  the  Northern 
Democracy  which,  while  ready  to  concede  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  more  slave  states,  was  still  insistent 
that  the  war  should  terminate  in  the  annexation  of 
vast  stretches  of  Southern  territory.  A  golden  oppor 
tunity,  it  was  maintained,  had  been  lost,  and  through 
the  defection  of  Northern  votes.  From  the  opinions 
expressed  in  the  Niblo  Garden  discourse  of  1837  the 
speaker  declared  he  had  not  swerved.  From  the  first 
he  had  seen  nothing  but  ' l  evil  and  danger ' '  to  the 
country  from  the  Texan  annexation,  and  now  that,  as 
a  result  of  a  war  precipitated  by  that  annexation,  it 
was  proposed  to  extend  still  further  the  possessions  of 
the  nation  in  the  southwest  he  found  his  worst  fears 
confirmed.  "We  want  no  extension  of  territory, "  he 
declared,  "  we  want  no  accession  of  new  states.  The 
country  is  already  large  enough.  .  .  .  Sir,  I  fear 
we  are  not  yet  arrived  at  the  beginning  of  the  end  [of 
controversy].  I  pretend  to  see  but  little  of  the  future, 
and  that  little  affords  no  gratification.  All  I  can  scan 
is  contention,  strife,  and  agitation.  .  .  .  We  are 
suffering  to  pass  the  golden  opportunity  for  securing 
harmony  and  stability  of  the  Constitution.  We  appear 


352  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

to  me  to  be  rushing  upon  perils  headlong,  and  with  our 
eyes  wide  open. ' ' l  When  the  Wilniot  proviso  was  moved 
in  the  Senate  as  an  additional  section  of  the  Three  Million 
Bill  Webster  was  among  those  who  supported  it.  It  was 
rejected,  however,  by  a  vote  of  thirty-one  to  twenty-one. 
The  bill  finally  became  law  with  no  mention  of  slavery, 
and  the  President  was  left  to  prosecute  the  war  and  to  ne 
gotiate  peace  unhampered  by  any  legislative  restriction. 
During  the  months  of  April  and  May,  1847,  Web 
ster  made  a  long  deferred  excursion  for  recreation  and 
observation  through  the  Southern  seaboard  states.  At 
Richmond,  Raleigh,  Wilmington,  Charleston,  Colum 
bia,  and  Savannah  he  was  received  with  unstinted  hos 
pitality,  and  at  a  number  of  dinners  and  public  meetings 
in  his  honor  he  was  called  upon  to  deliver  addresses." 
On  account  of  the  excessive  heat  the  plan  to  visit  Ke\v 
Orleans  was  abandoned,  but  the  trip  was  sufficiently 
extensive  to  afford  that  first-hand  information  regard 
ing  Southern  life  and  institutions  in  which  a  majority 
of  Northern  members  of  Congress  and  other  men  of  in 
fluence  were  largely  or  altogether  deficient.  Returning 
to  Marshfield,  June  8th,  the  senator  spent  the  ensuing 
summer  and  autumn  in  the  supervision  of  his  agricul 
tural  interests,  with  an  occasional  visit  to  New  York 
or  to  some  New  England  town  in  the  pursuit  of  profes 
sional  business.  The  catarrh  by  which  he  had  long- 
been  troubled  became  at  this  point  unusually  distress 
ing,  and  although  it  yielded  in  some  measure  to  treat 
ment  and  to  changes  of  climate,  it  remained  at  all  times 
thereafter  a  source  of  discomfort  and,  toward  the  last, 

1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  p.  261  ;  "  Writings  and  Speeches," 
Vol.  IX,  p.  261. 

2  For  these  speeches  see  "  Writings  and  iSpeeches,"  Vol.  IV,  pp. 
67-103. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAE  353 

of  occasional  disability.  Returning  to  Washington  for 
the  session  of  1847-1848,  he  found  himself  so  preoccu 
pied  with  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  that  he  was  able 
for  a  time  to  take  but  an  incidental  part  in  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Senate.  The  winter  was  clouded,  too, 
by  the  increasing  poor  health  of  his  daughter  Julia 
(Mrs.  Appletou;,  and  by  the  receipt,  in  February,  of 
the  wholly  unexpected  news  of  the  death  of  his  sou, 
Major  Edward  Webster,  which  took  place  near  the  city 
of  Mexico  January  25th.  The  son,  who  was  but  twenty  - 
eight  years  of  age,  had  raised  the  first  company  of 
volunteers  accepted  and  organized  by  his  state  for  the 
present  war,  and  had  gone  to  the  front  upon  the  com 
pletion  of  his  regiment.  At  Matamoras  he  had  fallen 
ill  and  his  life  had  been  despaired  of ;  but,  recovering, 
he  had  continued  for  some  months  in  active  service, 
until  the  fatal  recurrence  of  his  illness,  brought  on  by 
exposure  and  over-exertion. 

Visibly  depressed,  Webster  none  the  less  returned,  in 
March,  1848,  to  an  active  participation  in  the  delibera 
tions  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  On  the  17th  he 
spoke  in  opposition  to  a  bill  reported  by  General  Cass 
from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  to  increase  the 
army  then  engaged  in  Mexico  by  raising  ten  additional 
regiments  of  troops,  and  six  days  later,  when  the  sub 
ject  under  consideration  was  a  bill  from  the  House  of 
Representatives  for  raising  a  loan  of  sixteen  million 
dollars,  he  delivered  an  extended  speech  in  which  the 
causes  and  objects  of  the  war  were  subjected  to  the 
most  searching  analysis.1  Six  weeks  previously  the 
devious  diplomacy  of  the  American  commissioner, 
Nicholas  P.  Trist,  had  borne  fruit  in  the  conclusion  of 

141  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  271-301;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  3-33. 


354  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

a  treaty  of  peace  at  Guadelupe  Hidalgo.  By  the  terms 
of  this  treaty  the  Eio  Grande  River  was  recognized  as 
the  boundary  of  Texas,  and  Mexico  ceded  to  the  United 
States  the  whole  of  the  vast  territories  of  New  Mexico 
and  California,  in  return  for  a  cash  payment  of  fifteen 
million  dollars  and  the  assumption  by  the  United 
States  of  the  claims  of  her  citizens  upon  Mexico.  On 
March  10th  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  by  a 
vote  of  thirty-eight  to  fourteen. 

Curiously  enough,  however,  warlike  preparations 
continued  to  be  pushed.  The  "  All-Mexico  "  forces, 
represented  in  the  cabinet  by  Buchanan  and  \Valker, 
were  active  ;  and  until  the  exchange  of  ratifications 
there  was  some  possibility  that  Mexico  might  refuse  to 
accede  to  the  amendments  which  had  been  introduced 
in  the  treaty  by  the  Senate.  The  Ten  Regiments  Bill 
was  kept  under  consideration,  and  it  was  understood 
that  the  proposed  sixteen-milliou  loan  was  intended  to 
pave  the  way  for  the  raising  of  twenty  regiments 
more.  In  his  speech  upon  the  loan  bill  Webster  con 
tended  that  the  treaty  rendered  utterly  inapt  any 
legislation  looking  toward  a  prolonging  of  the  war 
and  charged  that  the  object  of  the  bill  was  "patron 
age,  office,  the  gratification  of  friends."  The  war,  it 
was  maintained,  had  been  waged  from  the  outset  for 
the  object  of  creating  new  states  in  the  southwest,  and 
the  speaker  declared  afresh  his  unalterable  opposition 
to  this  programme,  and,  indeed,  his  readiness  to  op 
pose  the  annexation  of  foreign  territory  in  any  quarter 
or  under  any  conceivable  circumstance.  The  issue, 
it  was  declared,  was  simply  "peace,  with  no  new 
states,  keeping  our  own  money  ourselves,  or  war  till 
new  states  shall  be  acquired,  and  vast  sums  paid. "  ' 
1  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  p.  283. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  355 

Eventually,  the  exchange  of  ratifications  with  the 
Mexican  Government,  May  30th,  brought  definite  as 
surance  of  peace,  and  likewise  of  the  annexation 
which  the  Administration  and  its  friends  were  seek 
ing.  In  the  meantime  Webster  had  returned  to  Bos 
ton,  where  at  the  close  of  April  he  was  called  upon 
to  follow  to  the  tomb,  within  the  space  of  a  single 
week,  the  remains  of  his  daughter  Julia  and  those 
of  his  son  Edward.  Of  his  five  children  but  one, 
Daniel  Fletcher,  now  survived. 

As  the  election  of  1848  approached  it  became  apparent 
that  the  contest  would  turn  almost  wholly  upon  issues 
created  by  the  war  with  Mexico.  The  problems  of  the 
Democrats  were  comparatively  simple,  for  although 
the  unity  of  the  party  was  impaired  by  factional  strife 
in  New  York,  the  nomination  of  General  Cass  for  the 
presidency  was  virtually  assured  in  advance  and  the 
framing  of  a  platform  affirming  the  justice  and  necessity 
of  the  Mexican  war,  condemning  opposition  to  it,  and 
endorsing  the  record  of  the  Polk  Administration  af 
forded  little  or  no  difficulty.  The  task  of  the  Whigs 
was  more  complicated,  and  in  the  end  it  was  performed 
with  indifferent  success.  Of  possible  candidates  there 
were  several.  Clay  was  still  in  the  field,  and  although 
his  repeated  defeats  had  led  many  of  his  former  ad 
herents  to  the  conclusion  that  he  could  not  be  elected, 
he  was  able  to  command  a  large  and  influential 
following.  General  Scott  was  another  possibility,  and 
another  was  Webster.  Still  others  were  Judge  McLean 
and  John  M.  Clayton.  Long,  however,  in  advance  of 
the  assembling  of  the  Whig  convention  at  Philadelphia, 
June  7,  1848,  it  became  clear  that  the  candidate  most 
likely  to  be  successful  was  General  Taylor,  whose 
active  service  during  the  earlier  portion  of  the  war  had 


366  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

enabled  him  to  supplant  Scott  in  the  admiration  of  the 
hero-loving  public.  The  growing  popularity  of  Taylor 
was  viewed  by  Webster  with  alarm,  not  alone  because 
he  was  himself  a  receptive  candidate,  but  because  he 
disapproved  the  selection  of  military  men  for  public 
office.  But  as  early  as  April,  1847,  he  predicted 
Taylor's  nomination.  "The  probability  now  is,"  he 
wrote  to  his  son,  "that  General  Taylor  will  come  in 
President  with  a  general  rush.  He  would,  certainly, 
were  the  election  now  to  come  on.  It  is  in  the  nature 
of  mankind  to  carry  their  favor  toward  military 
achievement.  No  people  yet  have  ever  been  found  to 
resist  that  tendency."  l  Gradually  during  the  winter 
of  1847-1848  the  movement  for  Taylor  acquired  organi 
zation.  On  the  part  of  the  managers  it  was  believed 
that  with  Taylor  as  a  candidate  the  party  could  sweep 
the  country,  and  it  was  assumed  that  under  no  other 
condition  could  success  be  hoped  for.  The  fact  that 
Taylor  had  never  been  identified  with  the  Whig  party 
—that,  indeed,  if  he  had  political  principles  they  were 
entirely  unknown — was  not  permitted  to  stand  in  the 
way.  It  was  a  part  of  the  original  plan  that  the  ticket 
should  be  assured  of  added  strength  by  associating 
Webster  with  Taylor  as  a  candidate  for  the  vice-presi 
dency  ;  but  the  proposal,  involving  as  it  did  little  less 
than  insult,  was  spurned  by  Webster  and  his  friends 
with  ill -disguised  contempt.  The  presidency  alone 
was  Webster's  ambition,  and  in  any  case  he  could  not 
have  assented  to  the  candidacy  of  Taylor,  as  accept 
ance  of  the  plan  would  have  obliged  him  to  do. 

It  was  Webster's  misfortune,  throughout  the  pre 
liminaries  of  the  contest  for  the  nomination,  to  be  the 

1  Webster    to    Fleteher    Webster,     April    25,    1847.      Webster, 
"Private  Correspondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  239. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAE  357 

victim  of  well- meaning  but  tactless  friends.  Thus  at 
the  end  of  January,  1848,  a  group  of  his  supporters  in 
New  York,  thiukiug  to  check  the  progress  of  the  move 
ment  for  Clay,  and  without  consulting  Webster,  lent 
their  support  to  a  call  for  a  public  meeting  in  behalf 
of  the  nomination  of  Taylor.  To  Webster  the  act 
appeared  a  grave  tactical  error,  and  to  one  of  the 
number  he  wrote  reproachfully  that  as  things  were 
going  the  forthcoming  convention  would  have  to  choose 
between  but  two  candidates,  Clay  and  Taylor,  and  that 
unless  Taylor  should  make  a  public  avowal  of  Whig 
principles  Clay  would  certainly  be  the  nominee.1 
During  the  spring,  state  conventions  and  niass.meetings, 
especially  in  the  Southern  states,  made  demand  for  the 
nomination  of  Taylor,  and  in  many  quarters  enthusiasts 
threatened  to  run  the  General  as  a  candidate,  whatever 
might  be  the  action  of  the  party  convention.  Besieged 
with  requests,  Taylor  at  length  indicated  in  a  letter, 
which  was  made  public,  that  if  nominated  by  the 
Whigs  he  would  not  refuse  to  run,  provided  he  should 
be  forced  to  make  no  pledges.  In  another  communica 
tion  he  avowed  that  he  was  a  WThig,  "but  not  an  ultra 
Whig." 

When  the  convention  assembled  General  Taylor  was 
nominated  on  the  fourth  ballot,  and  with  him  was 
associated  as  vice-presidential  candidate  Millard  Fill- 
more  of  New  York.  On  the  first  and  second  ballots 
Webster  received  twenty-two  votes,  on  the  third  seven 
teen,  and  on  the  fourth  fourteen.  With  the  exception 
of  one  member  who  came  to  the  convention  as  a  sup 
porter  of  Taylor,  the  Massachusetts  delegation  accorded 
him  its  steadfast  support.  The  convention  appointed 

1  Webster  to  Blatchford,  January  30,  1848.  Curtis,  "  Webster, " 
Vol.  II,  p.  336. 


358  DAOTEL  WEBSTER 

110  committee  on  resolutions  and  adjourned  without 
formulating  any  statement  of  principles  whatsoever— 
a  course  which  was  regarded  by  Webster  and  many 
of  his  fellow-partisans  with  extreme  disfavor.  The 
party  managers,  however,  were  counting  upon  a  victory 
to  be  achieved  through  the  personal  popularity  of  the 
nominee,  and  from  their  point  of  view  the  enunciation 
of  principles  could  but  be  productive  of  disagreement 
and  defeat.  x  By  the  action  of  the  convention  Webster 
^  was  grievously  disappointed.  His  heart  was  set  upon 
the  attainment  of  the  presidency,  and  neither  now  nor 
later  was  he  able  to  perceive  how  utterly  impossible  of 
realization  was  his  ambition.  With  the  nomination  of 
Taylor  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  decide  upon  the 
course  which  he  should  pursue  throughout  the  cam 
paign.  As  appeared  repeatedly  in  private  conversation 
and  correspondence,  he  was  disgusted  with  the  Whig 
nominee,  the  Whig  management,  even  the  Whig  party 
itself.  At  the  same  time,  he  neither  desired  nor  could 
afford  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  Free-Soilers,  and  the 
Democratic  ticket  he,  of  course,  could  not  by  any 
possibility  support.  "I  shall  endeavor,"  he  wrote  to 
his  son  a  week  after  the  adjournment  of  the  convention, 
"to  steer  my  boat  with  discretion,  but  it  is  evident 
that  I  must  say  something,  or  else  it  will  be  said  for 
me  by  others.  And  I  can  see  no  way  but  acquiescence 
in  Taylor's  nomination  ;  not  enthusiastic  support,  nor 
zealous  affection ;  but  acquiescence,  or  forbearance 
from  opposition."  l  u  It  seems  to  me  I  must  not,"  lie 
wrote  three  days  later,  "in  consistency,  abandon  the 
support  of  Whig  principles.  My  own  reputation  will 
not  allow  of  this.  I  cannot  be  silent  without  being 

1  Webster  to   Fletcher  Webster,   June  16,    1848.      Van  Tyne, 
"Betters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  368, 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  359 

reproached,  when  such  as  Cass  is  pressed  upon  the 
country.  ...  I  think  the  safest  way  is  to  over 
look  the  nomination,  as  not  being  the  main  thing,  and 
to  continue  to  maintain  the  Whig  cause. "  l  To  men 
who  urged  that  he  support  the  movement  of  the  Free- 
Soilers  he  turned  a  deaf  ear.  "These  Northern  pro 
ceedings,"  he  wrote  to  his  son,  "can  come  to  nothing 
useful.  .  .  .  The  men  are  all  low  in  their  objects.'7 
And  to  a  Massachusetts  friend  he  wrote,  following  the 
nomination  of  Van  Buren  by  the  Free-Soil  convention 
at  Buffalo  :  "  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  support 
the  Buffalo  nomination.  I  have  no  confidence  in  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  not  the  slightest.  I  would  much  rather 
trust  General  Taylor  than  Mr.  Van  Bureu,  even  on 
this  very  question  of  slavery,  for  I  believe  that  General 
Taylor  is  an  honest  man  and  I  am  sure  he  is  not  so 
much  committed  on  the  wrong  side  as  I  know  Mr.  Van 
Buren  to  have  been  for  fifteen  years."  2 

For  a  time  Webster  held  aloof,  but  before  the  close 
of  the  campaign  he  permitted  himself  to  take  part,  in 
a  guarded  manner,  in  the  canvass  for  Taylor.  On 
September  1st  he  made  a  notable  address  to  his 
neighbors  and  fellow- townsmen  at  Marshfield,  and 
October  24th  he  spoke  in  Faneuil  Hall  to  a  represent 
ative  gathering  of  Whigs  of  Boston  and  vicinity.  In 
the  Marshfield  address  he  declared  that  Taylor's  nomi 
nation  had  been  dictated  by  the  "sagacious,  wise,  far- 
seeing  doctrine  of  availability,"  and  that  "the  nomina 
tion  was  one  not  fit  to  be  made."  At  the  same  time, 
he  admitted  that  the  nominee  was  a  man  of  bravery 
and  integrity,  whose  conduct  since  his  nomination  had 

1  Webster    to  Fleteher  Webster,   June  19,    1848.     Van  Tyne, 
"Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  p.  369. 
'Webster  to  Hoar,  August  23,    1848.     Ibid.,  p.  372, 


360  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

been  beyond  reproach,  and  he  conceded  that,  taking; 
the  General  at  his  word,  he  might  be  considered  a, 
Whig.  The  alternative  being  Cass,  with  the  certainty 
of  the  admission  of  more  slave  states,  or  Taylor,  with 
a  possibility  of  the  avoiding  of  such  a  calamity,  Web 
ster  declared  that  he  could  but  vote  for  the  latter,  ant 
he  advised  his  friends  to  do  the  same.  In  the  Faueui 
Hall  speech  he  expressed  his  confidence  not  only  thav 
General  Taylor  was  a  W^hig  but  that,  if  elected,  he- 
would  surround  himself  with  a  Whig  cabinet  and 
'  i  honestly  and  faithfully  adopt  and  pursue  Whig 
principles  and  Whig  measures."  1 

At  the  close  of  a  somewhat  spiritless  campaign  it  ap 
peared  that  the  confidence  of  General  Taylor's  sup 
porters  had  not  been  misplaced.  The  Whigs  were 
successful,  even  though  by  no  wide  margin.  Taylor's 
popular  majority  over  Cass  was  approximately  140,000, 
while  his  electoral  majority  was  but  thirty-six,  so  that 
had  either  New  York  or  Pennsylvania  thrown  its  sup 
port  to  the  Democratic  candidate  he  would  have  been 
elected.  Of  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
the  Democrats  elected  112,  the  Whigs  but  105.  A  Free 
Soil  group  of  thirteen  held  the  balance  of  power.  The 
outcome  of  the  election,  however,  meant  little.  _Th£ 
Whigsjgere  returned  to  poweiyjbut  Uiey  .brought  with 
them  into  office  no_^harply__defiued  jprineipleSj  ancl 
reveal  what  their  policies  would 


be.  As  one  "writer  Tias  put  it,  practically  the  only 
filing  which  the  election  decided  was  that  "  a  Whig 
general  should  be  made  president  because  he  had  done 
effective  work  in  carrying  on  a  Democratic  war." 

'"Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  475.  For  the  speeches  at 
Marshfield  and  in  Faneuil  Hall  see  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol. 
IV,  pp.  123-174. 

2  Garrison,  "  Westward  Extension,"  p.  284. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAB  361 

The  success  of  the  Whigs  raised  at  once  the  question 
of  Webster's  attitude  toward,  and  his  relations  with, 
the  forthcoming  Administration.  Notwithstanding  his 
well-known  opinion  of  Taylor's  nomination,  he  had 
been  influential  in  holding  in  line  the  malcontents  of 
the  party,  and  his  eminence  was  such  that  he  seemed 
clearly  to  be  marked  out  for  a  diplomatic,  cabinet,  or 
other  important  appointment.  Throughout  the  winter 
following  the  election  Taylor  remained  at  his  Louisiana 
home,  and,  in  the  lack  of  definite  information  regard 
ing  his  plans,  the  public  was  obliged  to  content  itself 
with  speculation.  In  large  degree  the  making  up  of 
the  cabinet  was  left  to  the  party  leaders  who  had  en 
gineered  the  General's  nomination,  and  Webster,  not 
being  among  these,  was  never  so  much  as  consulted. 
He  stood  ready  to  tender  his  advice,  but  he  was  not 
called  upon,  and  he  scorned  to  obtrude.  To  the  sug 
gestion  which  came  from  many  quarters  that  he  should 
himself  become  a  member  of  the  cabinet  he  replied 
that  he  had  no  reason  either  to  expect  or  to  desire  an 
appointment  of  the  kind.  "I  am  old,  and  poor,  and 
proud,"  he  wrote  to  a  New  York  friend.  "  All  these 
things  beckon  me  to  retirement,  to  take  care  of  my 
self — and,  as  I  cannot  act  the  first  part,  to  act 
none."  1 

Three  weeks  prior  to  the  inauguration  he  wrote  to  the 
same  correspondent  that  he  was  certain  that  it  was  not 
the  purpose  of  the  President-elect  to  offer  him  a  cabi 
net  post,  and  that  even  if  such  an  offer  were  to  be 
made  it  could  not  be  accepted.  The  reasons  advanced 
for  unwillingness  to  assume  a  portfolio,  should  it  be 
offered,  were  several.  One  was  the  irksomeness  of 

1  Webster  to  Blatohford,  December  5,  1848.  Curtis.  "Webster," 
Vol.  II,  p.  351. 


362  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

the  labors  involved.  Another  was  the  feeling  that 
N  there  was  still  grave  doubt  as  to  what  the  real  char 
acter  of  the  Administration  would  be.  A  third  was 
the  consideration  that,  being  the  senior  of  the  Presi 
dent  in  age,  long  experienced  in  public  affairs,  and 
himself  an  aspirant  to  the  presidency,  Webster  felt 
that  he  could  best  preserve  his  own  dignity  by  declin 
ing  to  till  a  subordinate  place  in  the  executive  branch 
of  the  government.  Finally,  it  was  pointed  out  that 
the  practical  difficulty  of  deciding  between  his  own 
friends  and  the  friends  of  Taylor  in  the  making  of  ap 
pointments  would  be  embarrassing  in  the  extreme. 
"It  is  clear,  therefore,"  he  concluded,  "  that  my  true 
position  is  a  position  of  respect,  friendship,  and  sup 
port  of  the  incoming  Administration  ;  but  nol  a  posi 
tion  in  which  I  should  be  called  upon  to  take  part  in 
the  distribution  of  its  offices  and  patronage."  l 

The  attitude  of  benevolent  neutrality  thus  assumed 
was  maintained  consistently  throughout  the  sixteen 
mouths  of  Taylor's  tenure  of  the  presidency.  On 
May  18,  1850,  Webster  was  able  to  write:  "I  feel 
neither  indifferent  nor  distant  toward  our  good  Presi 
dent.  He  is  an  honest  man,  and  a  good  Whig,  and  I 
wish  well  to  his  administration,  for  his  sake  and  the 
country's.  But  what  can  I  do1?  He  never  consults 
me,  nor  asks  my  advice  ;  nor  does  any  one  of  his  cabi 
net  except  Mr.  Meredith.  ...  I  shall  support 
cordially  the  President's  measures  whenever  I  can  ; 
but  I  have  been  in  public  life  some  time  longer  than 
the  President  or  any  of  his  advisers,  and  suppose  I 
shall  not  be  much  blamed  if  on  great  public  questions 
I  feel  as  much  confidence  in  my  own  judgment  as  I  do 

1  Webster  to  Blatchford,  February   16,    1848.     Curtis,    "Web 
ster,'' Vol.  II,  p.  358. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  363 

in  theirs.  Personally  I  esteem  the  President  and  like 
him  very  well."  l 

In  the  meantime  the  interest  of  the  country  was  fast 
becoming  centred  upon  the  titanic  contest  which  had 
begun  in  Congress  over  the  organization  of  the  terri 
tories  acquired  from  Mexico.  In  the  Faneuil  Hall 
speech  of  1848  Webster  had  made  a  supreme  effort  to 
thrust  aside  the  issue  of  slavery  and  to  revive  the 
questions,  of  the  tariff  and  the  sub-treasury.  Yet  no 
one  knew  better  than  he  that  the  slavery  question 
could  not  be  kept  in  the  background  ;  and  when,  at 
the  convening  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress  for  its  last 
session  in  December,  1848,  President  Polk  declared  in 
his  message  that  the  acquisition  of  the  Mexican  terri 
tories  had  created  "  a  domestic  question  which  seri 
ously  threatens  to  disturb  the  harmony  and  successful 
operation  of  our  system,"  he  but  admitted  what 
Webster  had  declared  from  the  outset  would  be  the 
consequence  of  the  annexations.  The  course  urged 
upon  Congress  in  the  message  was  the  extension  of  the 
line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  westward  to  the 
Pacific. 

During  the  present  session,  and  throughout  the  en 
suing  period  of  controversy,  the  problem  of  the  status 
of  slavery  in  the  newly  acquired  territories  was  found 
to  be  susceptible  of  five  possible  solutions.  At  the 
one  extreme  was  the  contention  of  Calhoun  and  other 
advanced  exponents  of  the  slavery  interests  that  in 
New  Mexico  and  California,  as  in  all  other  territories 
acquired  by  the  blood  and  treasure  of  the  entire 
country,  slavery  must  be  not  only  permitted  but  pro 
tected  ;  otherwise  prospective  settlers  whose  property 

1  Webster  to  J.  P.  Hall,  May  18,  1850.  Van  Tyne,  <(  Letters  of 
Webster,"  p.  412. 


364  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

happened  to  be  in  the  form  of  slaves  would  be  dis 
criminated  against.  At  the  other  extreme  stood  the 
principle  of  the  Wilrnot  proviso,  namely,  that  slavery 
in  newly  acquired  territory  should  be  prohibited  irrev 
ocably  by  federal  law.  Between  these  two  courses  cf 
action  lay  three  others  of  a  more  moderate  character 
)tOne  was  that  advocated  by  President  Polk,  namely, 
the  simple  extension  to  the  Mexican  territories  of  tl  e 
division  line  adopted  in  1820  in  relation  to  the  Louisi 
ana  Purchase.  A  second  was  the  policy  first  warmly 
advocated  by  General^ass,  and  now  championed  most 
prominently  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas, — that  of  permit 
ting  the  inhabitants  of  the  territories  to  decide  for 
themselves  whether  or  not  they  would  have  slavery. 
This  policy  was,  of  course,  that  of  popular,  or 
"squatter,"  sovereignty.  A  third  policy  contem 
plated  the  inhibition  of  the  territorial  legislatures  by 
Congress  from  the  enactment  of  any  law  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery,  leaving  the  status  of  the  institution  to 
be  determined  entirely  by  the  territorial  courts.  At 
the  time  of  their  annexation  New  Mexico  and  Cali 
fornia  were,  both  legally  and  actually,  free  soil ;  but 
the  question  of  the  immediate  effect  of  the  annexation 
upon  their  domestic  institutions,  no  less  than  that  of 
the  proper  course  to  be  pursued  in  the  future,  was  one 
upon  which  there  was  apparently  hopeless  difference 
of  opinion.  An  effort  in  the  summer  of  1848  to  make 
incidental  provision  for  the  organization  of  the 
Mexican  cession  in  a  measure  relating  primarily  to 
the  Oregon  territory  failed.  Oregon  was  organized  as 
a  free  territory,  but  the  question  of  New  Mexico  and 
California  was  postponed. 

During  the  session  which  began  December  4,  1848. 
this  question  took  precedence  of  all  others.     In  the 


1 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  365 

Senate  Douglas  introduced  a  bill  erecting  the  whole  of 
the  territory  acquired  under  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  into  a  single  state ;  but  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee,  to  which  the  measure  was  referred,  reported 
adversely  and  the  proposal  failed.  February  22,  1849, 
Webster  introduced  a  bill  authorizing  military  govern- 
ment  and  the  continuance  of  existing  laws  in  the  terri 
tories  and  postponing  still  further  a  permanent  settle 
ment.  This  proposal  also  failed.  Still  another  measure 
was  introduced  undertaking  to  extend  the  Constitution 
to  the  territories,  and  also  to  extend  to  them  certain 
revenue  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  discussion  of 
this  proposition  was  rendered  especially  notable  by  a 
clash  which  took  place  between  Webster  and  Calhouu 
upon  the  question  of  whether  or  not  the  Constitution 
extended  to  the  territories  ex^prapria.  mgove.  It  was 
the  contention  of  Calhoun  that  the  Constitution  did  so 
extend  and  of  Webster  that  it  did  not.  The  advantage 
of  the  argument  lay  clearly  with  Webster.  The  ses 
sion  closed  without  the  enactment  of  any  measure  re 
lating  to  the  territories,  save  one  extending  to  them 
the  federal  revenue  laws  and  creating  in  them  a  col 
lection  district. 

At  the  establishment  of  the  administration  of 
President  Taylor,  in  March,  1849,  nothing  was  clearer 
to  thoughtful  men  than  that  the  slavery  issue  was 
likely  at  any  time  to  precipitate  a  national  crisis.  In 
the  first  place,  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley  in  January,  1848,  had  resulted  in  a  mad  rush 
of  fortune-hunters  and  settlers  to  California,  creating 
an  unexpected  need  for  an  immediate  and  definite 
organization  of  that  region  for  purposes  of  government. 
In  the  second  place,  there  had  arisen  a  gronp  of  other, 
and  more  or  less  unrelated,  slavery  questions  which 


366  DANIEL  WEBSTEE 

were  pressing  ever  more  seriously  for  solution.  The 
most  urgent  of  these  arose  from  the  demand  of  tli 
South  for  a  more  effective  fugitive  slave  law,  bui 
others  of  importance  related  to  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  adjust 
ment  of  the  disputed  boundary  between  Texas  aud 
New  Mexico,  and  the  assumption  by  the  United  States 
of  the  public  debt  of  Texas.  In  September,  1849,  tie 
inhabitants  of  California,  taking  matters  into  the;r 
own  hands,  held  a  convention,  adopted  a  constitution 
prohibiting  slavery,  set  up  a  state  government,  and 
prepared  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  Union.  And 
when,  in  December,  the  Thirty-first  Congress  as 
sembled  for  its  first  session,  senators  and  representa- 
tives  from  California  were  in  Washington  ready  to 
take  their  seats  as  soon  as  the  necessary  formalities 
should  have  been  complied  with.  The  boundaries  of 
the  prospective  state  were  such  as  to  render  impracti  - 
cable  one  of  the  solutions  of  the  territorial  question 
which  has  been  mentioned,  that,  namely,  of  extending 
to  the  Pacific  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  ; 
for  this  line  would  cut  squarely  across  the  proposed 
state. 

During  the  early  weeks  of  the  session  feeling  ran 
high,  both  in  Congress  and  throughout  the  country. 
A  determined  contest  over  the  speakership  of  the 
House,  occupying  three  weeks,  by  no  means  bet 
tered  the  situation  ;  while  state  legislatures  debated 
sharply,  and  threats  and  prophecies  of  secession  were 
heard  on  every  hand.  The  outcome  was  highly  prob 
lematical  when,  January  25,  1850,  the  aged  Clay, 
adopting  once  more  the  favorite  role  of  compromiser, 
came  forward  with  a  memorable  series  of  eight  resolu 
tions  calculated  to  allay  the  passions  of  the  hour  and 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  367 

to  afford  a  basis  for  the  speedy,  fair,  and  permanent 
adjustment  of  the  entire  group  of  slavery  questions  by 
which  the  country  was  vexed.  The  more  noteworthy 
of  the  proposals  were  (1)  that  California  should  be  ad 
mitted  as  a  free  state  ;  (2)  that  the  remaining  territo 
ries  acquired  from  Mexico  in  1848  should  be  organized 
without  any  mention  of  slavery ;  (3)  that  the  slave 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  should  be  abolished  ; 
(4)  that  a  new  and  more  eifective  fugitive  slave  law 
should  be  enacted  ;  and  (5)  that  Texas  should  yield  to 
New  Mexico  the  territory  in  dispute,  in  recognition  of 
which  act  the  United  States  should  assume  the  debt 
contracted  by  Texas  prior  to  her  annexation  to  the 
United  States.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  four 
days  before  submitting  publicly  this  plan  of  concilia 
tion  Clay  sought  and  obtained  a  conference  with  Web 
ster  concerning  it.  Presenting  himself  at  Webster's 
house  on  a  stormy  evening,  and  with  no  previous  inti 
mation  of  a  visit,  he  poured  out  to  his  great  compeer 
his  fears  for  the  Union  and  besought  sympathy  and 
assistance.  The  plan  as  unfolded  appealed  to  Webster 
in  all  of  its  essentials,  and  he  gave  his  word  that  if, 
upon  further  consideration,  he  should  continue  of  the 
same  mind  he  would  devote  himself  to  its  adoption  in 
the  Senate,  regardless  of  what  the  consequences  might 
be  at  the  North. 

The  pledge  was  abundantly  redeemed.  On  Feb 
ruary  5th  and  6th  Clay  delivered  a  powerful  speech  in 
support  of  his  resolutions,  declaring  that  Congress  and 
the  state  legislatures  were  il  twenty-odd  furnaces  in 
full  blast  in  generating  heat  and  passion  and  intem 
perance,  and  diffusing  them  throughout  the  whole  ex 
tent  of  the  broad  land,"  and  expressing  the  most  urgent 
anxiety  for  the  restoration  of  "  concord,  harmony,  and 


368  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

peace. "  On  March  4th  the  speech  of  Calhoun,  v  10 
was  too  broken  in  health  to  be  able  to  deliver  it,  was 
read  by  Senator  Mason  of  Virginia.  In  it  the  Com 
promise  was  declared  incapable  of  saving  the  Unic  n, 
and  it  was  asserted  unequivocally  that  the  only  means 
whereby  that  consummation  could  be  attained  would 
be  the  concession  to  the  South  of  an  equal  right  in  the 
territories,  the  complete  enforcement  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  and  the  absolute  cessation  of  anti- slavery 
agitation.  Three  days  later  Webster,  the  third  mem 
ber  of  the  great  triumvirate  whose  twoscore  years  of 
service  in  Congress  were  now  drawing  to  an  end,  de 
livered  the  memorable  speech  known  from  then  until 
now  by  the  date  of  its  delivery,  l  i  the  Seventh  of  March,  > ' 
Earlier  in  the  session  Webster  had  expressed  the 
conviction  that  the  Union  was  not  in  imminent  peril. 
"There  is  no  serious  danger,"  he  wrote  as  late  as  Feb 
ruary  14th.  Subsequently,  however,  and  especially 
after  the  reading  of  the  speech  of  Calhouu,  he  came  to 
the  opinion  that  the  threats  of  secession  which  were 
sounded  so  loudly  were  not  entirely  empty.  As  early 
as  February  22d  he  was  determined  to  "  make  a  Union 
speech  and  discharge  a  clear  conscience,"  and  March 
7th,  when  the  resolutions  of  Clay  were  the  special 
order  of  the  day,  he  seized  a  favorable  opportunity  for 
the  purpose.  That  he  was  likely  to  do  so  was  known 
somewhat  in  advance,  and  when,  on  the  day  mentioned, 
the  doors  of  the  Senate  chamber  were  opened  all  avail 
able  space  was  quickly  occupied  by  ladies,  members  of 
the  House,  and  other  spectators  who  had  been  fortu 
nate  enough  to  gain  admission.  Despite  the  fact  that 
nothing  except  an  outline  was  committed  to  writing, 
the  speech  was  diligently  prepared,  and  it  is  the  testi 
mony  of  those  who  heard  it  that  it  was  delivered  with 


THE  MEXICAN  AVAR  369 

more  than  the  speaker's  usual  deliberation  and  poise.1 
It  was  born  of  an  intense  devotion  to  the  Union  and  a 
solicitous  and  discriminating  study  of  the  highly  dis 
cordant  aspects  of  the  existing  political  situation,  and 
through  it  flashed  the  same  flames  of  eloquence  which 
illumined  the  Reply  to  Hayne. 

The  exordium  was  one  of  singular  dignity  and  power 
of  appeal.  "Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  speak  to-day, 
not  as  a-  Massachusetts  man,  nor  as  a  Northern  man, 
but  as  an  American,  and  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States.  It  is  fortunate  that  there  is  a  Sen 
ate  of  the  United  States  ;  a  body  not  yet  moved  from 
its  propriety,  not  lost  to  a  just  sense  of  its  own  dignity 
and  its  own  high  responsibilities,  and  a  body  to  which 
the  country  looks,  with  confidence,  for  wise,  moderate, 
patriotic,  and  healing  counsels.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  we  live  in  the  midst  of  strong  agitations,  and  are 
surrounded  by  very  considerable  dangers  to  our  insti 
tutions  and  government.  The  imprisoned  winds  are 
let  loose.  The  East,  the  North,  and  the  stormy  South 
combine  to  throw  the  whole  sea  into  commotion,  to 
toss  its  billows  to  the  skies,  and  disclose  its  pro- 
foundest  depths.  I  do  not  affect  to  regard  myself,  Mr. 
President,  as  holding,  or  as  fit  to  hold,  the  helm  in 
this  combat  with  the  political  elements ;  but  I  have  a 
duty  to  perform,  and  I  mean  to  perform  it  with  fidelity, 
not  without  a  sense  of  existing  dangers,  but  not  without 
hope.  I  have  a  part  to  act,  not  for  my  own  security  or 
safety,  for  I  am  looking  out  for  no  fragment  upon  which 
to  float  away  from  the  wreck,  if  wreck  there  must  be, 
but  for  the  good  of  the  whole  and  the  preservation  of  all ; 

1  The  outline,  which  filled  twenty-eight  sheets  of  foolscap,  is 
printed  in  Van  Tyne,  "Letters  of  Webster,"  pp.  393-403,  and  in 
41  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp. 281-291. 


370  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  there  is  that  which  will  keep  me  to  niy  duty  during 
this  .struggle,  whether  the  sun  and  the  stars  shall  ap 
pear,  or  shall  not  appear  for  many  days.  I  spe;ik 
to-day  for  the  pre^rvation^ofjthe  Union.  '  Hear  me 
for  my  cause.'  I  speak  to-day,  out  of  a  solicitous  and 
anxious  heart,  for  the  restoration^  the  country  of  th  it 
quiet  and  that  harmony  wMclEjmake  the  blessings  of 
thlstJmon  so  rich,  and  so  dear  to  us  all.  These  are 
the  topics  that  I  propose  to  myself  to  discuss  ;  these 
are  the  motives,  and  the  sole  motives,  that  influence 
me  in  the  wish  to  communicate  my  opinions  to  the 
Senate  and  the  country  j  and  if  I  can  do  anything, 
however  little,  for  the  promotion  of  these  ends,  I  shall 
have  accomplished  all  that  I  expect."  l 

Following  this  announcement  of  purpose  Webster 
passed  to  a  review  of  the  history  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States,  pointing  out  how  the  hope  of  the  dis 
appearance  of  the  institution  cherished  by  men  of 
earlier  days,  including  slaveholders,  had  been  brought 
to  naught  by  the  expansion  of  cotton  culture,  and  how 
the  South,  once  more  outspoken  in  condemnation  of 
slavery  than  was  the  North,  had  come  gradually  to  re 
gard  the  institution  as  natural,  necessary,  and  even 
justifiable  upon  religious  grounds.  Then  he  sketched 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  the 
general  chain  of  events  by  which  the  nation  had  been 
brought  to  its  present  perilous  situation.  The  charac 
ter  of  every  part  of  the  country,  with  respect  to  sla 
very,  was  declared  now  to  be  fixed,  by  law  or  by  Na 
ture  ;  and,  avowing  that  Nature  had  herself  attended 
to  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  territories  com 
prised  in  the  Mexican  cession,  he  declared  that  he 

1U  Works    of  Webster,"  Vol.    V,  pp.  325-326 ;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  57-58. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAK  371 

would  not  i  '  take  pains  to  reaffirm  an  ordinance  of  Na 
ture,  nor  to  reenact  the  will  of  God," — that  he  would 
"  put  in  no  Wilinot  proviso,  for  the  purpose  of  a  taunt 
or  a  reproach."  The  u  criminations  and  recrimina 
tions"  of  the  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholdiug  sec 
tions  of  the  country  were  then  surveyed  at  length  and 
set  forth  in  bold  relief.  The  grievance  of  the  South  to 
which  most  attention  was  given  was  that  arising  from 
the  lax  enforcement  of  the i  fogiUyjBJsl^&law.  In  the 
controversy  which  had  arisen  upon  this  subject  the 
Southjjtj^as  affirmed,  was  right,  the  North  was  wrong. 
"No  man  fulfills  his  duty  in  any  legislature  who  sets 
himself  to  find  excuses,  evasions,  escapes  from  this 
constitutional  obligation,"  it  was  maintained  ;  and  the 
acfedty  of  some  Northern  legislatures  in  flooding  Con 
gress  with  memorials  on  slavery  in  the  District  of 
ColumbTa~and  I^ndre3n§ul3pcts  'was  especially  dep- 
precjatecL  Of  abolition  societies,  also,  he  spoke  very 
unfavorably.  Allowing  tHat  thousands  of  the  mem 
bers  of  these  organizations  were  honest  and  good  men, 
he  none  the  less  maintained  that  the  societies  during 
the  last  twenty  years  had  "  produced  nothing  good  or 
valuable,"  and  that  their  effect  was  but  to  excite  feel 
ing  and  create  alarm.  The  violence  of  the  Northern 
press^  was  likewise  reprobated,  although  it  was  in 
sisted  that  the  Southern  press  was  no  less  at  fault.  In 
the  entire  catalogue  of  Southern  complaints  he  pro 
fessed  to  see,  however,  "no  solid  grievance  within  the 
redress  of  the  Government"  save  "the  want  of  a 
proper  regard  to  the  injunction  of  the  Constitution 
for  the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves. " 

Turning  to  the  complaints  of  the  North,  he  enumer 
ated  as  first  and  gravest  the  change  that  had  taken 
place  in  Southern  sentiment  since  1789,  involving 


372  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

efforts  to  extend  the  institution  of  slavery  into  new 
regions,  contrary  to  the  understanding  which  prevailed 
when  the  Constitution  was  adopted ;  second,  the  tone 
of  disparagement  in  which  Southern  men  were  accus 
tomed  to  speak  of  free  labor  and  of  the  industrial  sys 
tem  of  the  North  ;  and,  finally,  the  laws  of  certai  n 
Southern  states  in  accordance  with  which  colored  sea 
men  employed  on  Northern  vessels  were  denied  freedom 
when  in  Southern  ports.  With  respect  to  the  griev 
ances  of  both  Jjides  it  was  j^cl^redjbhaglnrsirfar  as 
theyjiad  theirjFoundation  in  matters  of  law  they  could 
be,  and  should  be,  redressed  ;  but  that  in  so  far  as  they 
had  their  foundation  in  mTafters  of  opinion,  in  sentiment, 
in  mutual  criifiiuatlon  and  recrimination,  all  that  eouM 
be  done  was  to  endeavor  toJ^allay^tEe'agitation  and 
cultivate  a  better  feeling  and  more  fraternal  sentiments 
between ..tie.  South  .aMiETNortE!"""" 

Toward  the  close  of  the  speech  there  came  an  out 
burst  of  impassioned  eloquence  such  a,s  Webster  him 
self  had  seldom  equaled.  It  was  inspired  especially 
by  the  free  and  easy  references  to  secession  which  in 
these  days  fell  not  infrequently  from  the  lips  of  men  of 
high  standing  and  influence.  * '  Secession  !  Peaceable 
secession  !  Sir,  your  eyes  and  mine  are  never  destined 
to  see  that  miracle.  The  dismemberment  of  this  vast 
country  without  convulsion  !  The  breaking  up  of  the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep  without  ruffling  the  sur 
face  !  Who  is  so  foolish,  I  beg  everybody's  pardon,  as 
to  expect  to  see  any  such  thing  ?  Sir,  he  who  see,s 
these  states,  now  revolving  in  harmony  around  a  com 
mon  centre,  and  expects  to  see  them  quit  their  places 
and  fly  off  without  convulsion,  may  look  the  next  hour 
to  see  the  heavenly  bodies  rush  from  their  spheres,  and 
jostle  against  each  other  in  the  realms  of  space,  with- 


THE  MEXICAN  WAE 


373 


out  causing  the  wreck  of  the  universe.  There  can  be 
no  jsuch  thing  as  a  peaceable  secession.  Peaceable 
secession  is  an  utter  impossibility.  Is  the  great  Con 
stitution  under  which  we  live,  covering  this  whole 
country,  is  it  to  be  thawed  and  melted  away  by  seces 
sion,  as  the  snows  on  the  mountain  melt  unobserved, 
and  run  off?  No,  sir  !  No,  sir  !  I  will  not  state  what 
might  produce  the  disruption  of  the  Union  ;  but,  sir,  I 
see  as  plainly  as  I  see  the  sun  in  heaven  what  that  dis 
ruption  itself  must  produce  ;  I  see  that  it  must  pro 
duce  war.  .  .  .  |jpeaceable  secession !  Peaceable 
secession  !  The  concurrent  agreement  of  all  the  mem 
bers  of  this  great  republic  to  separate  !  A  voluntary 
separation,  with  alimony  on  one  side  and  on  the  other. 
Why,  what  would  be  the  result  ?  Where  is  the  line  to 
be  drawn  I  What  states  are  to  secede  ?  What  is  to 
remain  American  ?  What  am  I  to  be  ?  An  Ameri 
can  no  longer  ?  Am  I  to  become  a  sectional  man,  a 
local  man,  a  separatist,  with  no  country  in  common 
with  the  gentlemen  who  sit  around  me  here,  or  who 
fill  the  other  house  of  Congress  f  Heaven  forbid J 
Where  is  the  flag  of  the  republic  to  remain  ?  WTiere 
is  the  eagle  still  to  tower?  or  is  he  to  cower,  and 
shrink,  and  fall  to  the  ground  ?  Why,  sir,  our  ances 
tors,  our  fathers  and  our  grandfathers,  those  of  them 
that  are  yet  living  amongst  us  with  prolonged  lives, 
would  rebuke  and  reproach  us  ;  and  our  children  and 
our  grandchildren  would  cry  out  shame  upon  us,  if  we 
of  this  generation  should  dishonor  these  ensigns  of  the 
power  of  the  government  and  the  harmony  of  that  Un 
ion  which  is  every  day  felt  among  us  with  so  much  joy 
and  gratitude.  What  is  to  become  of  the  army? 
What  is  to  become  of  the  navy  ?  What  is  to  become 
of  the  public  lands  ?  How  is  each  of  the  thirty  states 


374  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

to  defend  itself?  I  know,  although  the  idea  has  not 
been  stated  distinctly,  there  is  to  be,  or  it  is  suppose! 
possible  that  there  will  be,  a  Southern  Confederacy . 
I  do  not  mean,  when  I  allude  to  this  statement,  thn  t 
any  one  seriously  contemplates  such  a  state  of  things;. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  is  true,  but  I  have  heard  it 
suggested  elsewhere,  that  the  idea  has  been  entertained, 
that,  after  the  dissolution  of  this  Union,  a  Southern 
Confederacy  might  be  formed.  I  am  sorry,  sir,  that  i : 
has  ever  been  thought  of,  talked  of,  or  dreamed  of,  in 
the  wildest  flights  of  human  imagination.  But  the 
idea,  so  far  as  it  exists,  must  be  of  a  separation,  as 
signing  the  slave  states  to  one  side  and  the  free  states 
to  the  other.  Sir,  I  may  express  myself  too  strongly, 
perhaps,  but  there  are  impossibilities  in  the  natural  as 
well  as  in  the  physical  world,  and  I  hold  the  idea  of  a 
separation  of.  Ihese^.^tates4_  tJiOjSiiJtot^rji£re^jto  form 
one  government,  and-_those-^hi^-4U^_slaveholding  to 
forjajULQJtker,  as-SiiclLan  impossibility.  We  could  not 
separate  the  states  by  any  such  Tine,  if  we  were  to  draw 
it.  We  could  not  sit  down  here  to-day  and  draw  a  line 
of  separation  that  would  satisfy  any  five  men  in  the 
country.  There  are  natural  causes  that  would  keep 
and  tie  us  together,  and  there  are  social  and  domestic 
relations  which  we  could  not  break  if  we  would,  and 
which  we  should  not  if  we  con  Id."  l 

The  most  notable  speeches  upon  the  Compromise  by 
which  those  of  Clay,  Calhouu,  and  Webster  were  fol 
lowed  were  those  of  William  H.  Seward,  delivered 
March  llth,  and  Salmon  P.  Chase,  delivered  two 
^""""weeks  later.  Seward  and  Chase  belonged  to  the 
younger  generation  of  statesmen,  to  the  generation 

1  ".Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  361-3G2  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  93-94. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR  375 

which  was  destined  to  witness  the  war  between  the 
sections  and  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery,  and 
while  their  attachment  to  the  Union  was  unimpeachable 
they  felt  less  than  did  Webster  and  Clay  the  necessity 
of  compromise  and  of  toleration  for  the  Union's  sake. 
Seward  pronounced  all  legislative  compromises  6 l  rad 
ically  wrong  and  essentially  vicious,"  declared  the 
fugitive  slave  law  contrary  to  the  law  of  nature,  denied 
that  the  Constitution  recognized  slavery,  and  affirmed 
that  in  any  case  there  was  a  higher  law  than  the  Con 
stitution  in  accordance  with  which  the  newly  acquired 
territories  should  be  devoted  to  freedom.  With  these 
doctrines  Chase  was  in  substantial  agreement. 

On  April  18th  the  compromise  resolutions  were  re 
ferred  to  a  committee  of  thirteen,  of  which  Clay  was 
chairman,  and  May  8th  they  were  reported  in  the  form 
of  two  bills,  together  with  an  amendment  to  the  fugi 
tive  slave  bill  already  pending  in  the  Senate.  The 
drift  of  circumstances  throughout  the  country  was 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  Compromise.  The  holding  of 
a  convention  at  Nashville  in  which  nine  of  the  slave 
states  were  represented  strikingly  emphasized  the  de 
sirability  of  an  early  settlement.  On  July  9th  Presi 
dent  Taylor  died,  and  Fillmore,  who  succeeded,  gave 
the  weight  of  his  influence  to  the  proposed  adjustment. 
Disentangling  the  numerous  propositions  one  by  one, 
Congress  adopted  the  series  with  few  modifications, 
and  before  the  close  of  the  year  the  Compromise  had 
become  law.  The  sentiment  that  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  should  be  exalted  above  the  attainment  of 
sectional  ends  upon  controverted  questions  was  still  in 
the  ascendant.  Whether  it  would  continue  so  after 
the  passing  of  such  bulwarks  of  nationalism  as  Webster 
and  Clay  was  a  serious  question. 


CHAPTEB  XIV 

SECRETARY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMORE 

WITH  the  exception  of  the  debate  with  Hayne,  no 
performance  of  Webster  in  the  course  of  a  public  career 
covering  twoscore  years  aroused  greater  interest  than  di d 
the  speech  of  the  Seventh  of  March.  None  provoked 
contemporaneously  more  wide-spread  discussion,  and 
none  has  since  been  judged  more  variously  by  biog 
raphers  and  historians.  No  sooner  was  the  speech  de 
livered  and  the  content  of  it  made  known  to  an  awaiting 
public  than  there  arose  throughout  the  North,  and  most 
of  all  in  New  England,  a  veritable  storm  of  criticism. 
In  pulpit  and  in  press,  by  abolitionists  and  by  men 
who  detested  the  abolitionist  creed,  Webster  was  pro 
claimed,  in  language  now  of  sorrow  and  now  of  indig 
nation,  a  compromiser,  a  time-server,  and  an  apostate. 
At  a  public  meeting  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  the  speech 
was  unsparingly  condemned  and  Theodore  Parker  de 
clared  that  he  knew  of  no  deed  in  American  history 
done  by  a  sou  of  New  England  to  which  he  could  com 
pare  that  of  Webster  save  the  act  of  Benedict  Arnold. 
"Webster,"  wrote  Horace  Mann,  "is  a  fallen  star! 
Lucifer  descending  from  heaven  ! "  In  a  poem  of 
mournful  melody,  "  Ichabod, "  Whittier  deplored  the 
"  fallen"  statesman's  loss  of  faith  and  honor  ;  while  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature  proclaimed 
the  object  of  his  scorn  "a  recreant  son  of  Massa 
chusetts  who  misrepresented  her  in  the  Senate."  By 
the  speech,  asserted  Giddings,  "a  blow  was  struck  at 


SECEETAKY  OF  STATE  UNDER  PILLMOEE   377 

freedom  and  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  free  states 
which  no  Southern  arm  could  have  given."  The 
Boston  Atlas,  the  New  York  Tribune  and  other  leading 
Whig  journals  were  outspoken  in  disapproval. 

The  points  of  specific  attack  were  several.  One  was 
the  readiness  now  displayed,  despite  a  strong  disposi 
tion  in  the  past  to  resist  any  possible  extension  of 
slavery,  to  accept  the  "law  of  Nature"  in  lieu  of  an 
act  of  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Mexican 
cession.  Another  was  the  consideration  shown  the 
South  in  the  matter  of  the  execution  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law  and  the  seeming  indifference  to  the  senti 
ments  of  Northern  people  which  were  outraged  by  the 
proposed  legislation  upon  this  subject.  It  was  charged 
that,  instead  of  maintaining  an  independent  and  digni 
fied  attitude,  as  was  his  custom,  Webster  had  stooped 
to  the  level  of  a  mere  compromiser,  even  a  truckler  to 
Southern  interests,  and  it  was  alleged  that  he  was  curry  - 
iug  favor  with  the  South  with  the  express  purpose  of 
promoting  his  chance  of  attaining  the  presidency. 
The  abject  surrender  of  moral  principle  which  was 
alleged  to  have  been  made  was  declared  to  be  the  fruit 
of  inordinate  and  long  unsatisfied  ambition.  "The 
only  reasonable  way  in  which  we  can  estimate  this 
speech,"  affirmed  Parker,  "is  as  a  bid  for  the  presi 
dency.  "  And  the  charge  was  reiterated  by  Maun, 
Giddiugs,  and  numerous  other  critics.  Even  the 
crowning  argument  by  which  Webster  had  sought  to 
promote  the  enactment  of  the  measures  of  1850,  *'.  e. , 
the  necessity  of  averting  the  peril  of  disunion,  was 
pronounced  empty  and  insincere,  it  being  assumed 
that  no  peril  of  the  sort  existed. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  throughout  the  North 
Webster's  standing  was  affected  adversely  by  the 


378  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

speech,  nor  that  in  quarters  where  abolitionism  was 
dominant  all  claim  to  popularity  was  at  this  point 
forfeited.  Two  facts  are,  however,  to  be  observed. 
In  the  first  place,  if  the  speech  served  to  bring  down 
upon  its  author  denunciation,  and  even  disgrace,  it 
also  brought  him  numerous  and  highly  flattering  ex 
pressions  of  admiration  and  confidence.  These  came 
not  alone  from  the  South  but  from  all  portions  of  the 
country,  and  from  political  friends  and  foes  alike.  A 
formal  address  was  sent  to  him  from  Boston,  signed  by 
eight  hundred  substantial  citizens,1  warmly  approving 
the  stand  which  had  been  taken.  From  Newbury- 
port,  Medford,  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  Keunebec 
Valley,  and  from  a  representative  body  of  friends  and 
former  neighbors  in  New  Hampshire,  came  similar 
testimonials,  enforcing  the  fact  that  while  condemna 
tion  was  sharpest  in  the  senator's  own  section  of  the 
country  it  was  not  even  there  by  auy  means  universal. 
UI  wish  I  could  send  you,"  wrote  one  of  Webster's 
friends  (from  Washington)  to  another,  "the  tons  of 
Southern  and  Western  papers  that  are  filled  with 
glorifications  of  the  speech — they  would  do  you  much 
good.  The  letters  from  clergymen  all  over  the 
country,  and  from  Democrats  in  all  the  states,  con 
curring  in  the  strongest  approbation  of  the  speech, 
have  filled  Mr.  Wrebster's  office,  so  that  there  is  no 
room  to  sit  down."  2 

A  second  fact  to  be  observed  is  that  after  the  lapse 
of  a  little  time  large  numbers  of  persons  who  for  the 
moment  had  been  alienated  assumed  again  an  attitude 


Including  George  Ticknor,  George  T.  Curtis,  Rufus  Choate, 
William  H.  Preseott,  aiid  Jared  Sparks. 

2  Edward  Curtis  to  Peter  Harvey,  March  15,  1850.  Van  Tyne, 
"  Letters  of  Webster,"  p.  405. 


SECEETAEY  OF  STATE  UNDEE  FILLMOEE  379 

of  sympathy  and  support.  The  conviction  grew 
that  in  an  era  of  controversy  such  as  that  in  which 
men  were  now  living  the  leadership  of  a  statesman 
of  Webster's  intellect  and  integrity  was  something 
to  be  prized,  not  scorned.  The  abolitionists  were  ir 
reconcilable,  and  undoubtedly  the  majority  of  anti- 
slavery  people  continued  to  be  more  or  less  displeased. 
But  many  Whig  journals  in  time  became  less  cen 
sorious,  and  several  ended  by  according  unreserved 
support ;  and  the  change  of  attitude  was  reflected 
widely  among  their  readers.  It  was,  as  Mr.  Ehodes 
asserts,  Webster,  rather  than  Clay,  who  raised  up  for 
the  Compromise  a  powerful  and  much-needed  support 
from  Northern  public  sentiment.1 

The  truth  is  that  the  course  which  Webster  pursued 
in  1850,  if  considerably  at  variance  with  his  course 
earlier  times,  was  dictated  very  much  more  largely  by 
honest  and  patriotic  motives  than  the  critics  of  that 
day  and  since  have  been  willing  to  admit.  The  point 
is  incontestable  that  Webster  in  1850  still  aspired  to 
attain  the  presidency.  Such  aspiration  he,  indeed, 
had  cherished  since  at  least  the  period  of  the  Hayue 
debate  and  the  controversy  over  nullification.  It  may 
be  granted,  too,  that  in  the  later  portion  of  his  career 
he  was  distinctly  less  outspoken  in  opposition  to  slavery 
than  in  the  days  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the 
Plymouth  oration.  At  no  time  had  he  even  approx 
imated  the  position  of  the  abolitionists.  Xone  the 
less,  he  had  once  been  readier  to  denounce  the  slave 
trade  and  the  several  harsher  phases  of  the  institution, 
and  in  later  times  he  was  strongly  disposed  to  confine 
his  anti -slavery  activities  to  the  prevention  of  the 
acquisition  of  new  slave  territory.  In  1850  he  had 
1  Rhodes,  "History  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  I,  p.  157. 


380  DANIEL  AVEBSTER 

seemed,  at  least,  to  many  people  to  yield  even  upon 
this  fundamental  point.  But  the  fact  is  to  be  borne  in 
inind  that,  if  he  refused  to  insist  upon  the  positive  ex 
clusion  of  slavery  from  New  Mexico,  he  refused  also  to 
accede  to  the  demand  of  the  South  that  the  legality  of 
slavery  in  the  territories  be  recognized  and  maintained 
by  Congress  ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that,  California 
having  already  declared  against  si  a  very,  the  contention 
that  there  really  never  would  be  a  slavery  question  in 
the  Mexican  cession  was  substantially  based.  Further 
more,  the  argument  employed  in  behalf  of  the  carrying 
into  effect  of  the  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitu 
tion  was,  so  far  as  the  legal  aspect  of  it  is  concerned, 
quite  unimpeachable.  Webster's  only  tactical  error 
at  this  point  lay  in  his  failure  to  perceive  the  intensity 
and  the  permanence  of  the  Northern  feeling  upon  the 
subject  and  in  his  neglect  to  use  the  occasion  to  make 
fresh  protestation  of  the  essential  iniquity  of  slavery. 
The  malf  ing  of  such  protestation,  however,  would  have 
robbed  >t&e  speech  of  its  conciliatory  tone,  thereby 
defeauii^itsi  essential  purpose.  That  Webster  was  an 
auti-Xavery)  man  the  country  knew.  In  1848  he  had 
complained  to  a  friend  that  there  were  those  who 
refused  to  regard  him  as  such  unless  he  repeated  the 
declaration  "  once  a  week."  In  1850  there  were  those 
who  would  not  have  believed  such  an  assertion  if  re 
peated  daily.  But  the  people  in  general  knew  his 
record  and  required  at  this  time,  as  he  felt,  no  fresh 
assurance. 

Finally,  despite  the  opinion  of  some  historians  to  the 
contrary,  it  may  be  asserted  that  the  motive  which  was 
supremely  operative  in  the  Seventh  of  March  speech, 
as  in  Webster's  public  acts  and  utterances  upon  many 
other  occasions,  was  that  of  the  safeguarding  of  the 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMORE  381 

Union.  l  i  Sir, ' '  he  declared  iu  one  of  bis  speeches  upon 
the  Compromise,  "  my  object  is  peace.  My  object  is 
reconciliation.  My  purpose  is  not  to  make  up  a  case  for 
the  North,  or  to  make  up  a  case  for  the  South.  My  obj  ect 
is  not  to  continue  useless  and  irritating  controversies.  I 
am  against  agitators,  North  and  South.  I  am  against 
local  ideas,  North  and  South,  and  against  all  narrow 
and  local  contests.  I  am  an  American,  and  I  know 
no  locality  but  America ;  that  is  my  country.  My 
heart,  my  sentiments,  my  judgment,  demand  of  me 
that  I  shall  pursue  such  a  course  as  shall  promote  the 
good,  and  the  harmony,  and  the  union  of  the  whole 
country.  This  I  shall  do,  God  willing,  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter."  l  Webster's  idea  that  the  Union  was  in 
danger  was  scoffed  at  by  his  abolitionist  critics.  Yet 
the  student  of  the  period  knows  that  never  had  the 
threat  of  secession  been  made  with  such  resoluteness 
as  in  1850  and  that  within  slightly  more  than  a  decade 
the  durability  of  the  nation  was  destined  to  be  put 
to  the  supreme  test.  In  the  situation  which  existed 
Webster  considered  the  proposals  of  Clay  to  comprise, 
not  necessarily  an  ideal,  but  a  common-sense,  fair,  and 
practicable,  settlement — one  well  calculated  to  meet 
the  rising  demand  of  a  large  part  of  the  nation  for 
sectional  peace.  To  what  precise  extent  the  still  linger 
ing  longing  for  the  presidency  imparted  color  to  the 
sentiments  which  were  expressed  no  one  can  know.  In 
all  probability  Webster  himself  did  not  know.  There 
can  be  no  question,  however,  that  by  some  writers  this 
factor  has  been  greatly  exaggerated.  At  the  most,  it 
was  incidental  rather  than  preponderant.  If,  as  Mr. 
Rhodes  has  said,  "one  believes  that  Webster  surren 
dered  principle  for  the  sake  of  winning  the  favor  of 

1  Curtis,  "Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  448. 


382  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  South,  it  must  be  on  the  ground  that  this  man  of 
large  public  experience  did  not  understand  the  senti 
ment  of  the  North  ;  or  that,  with  unexampled  fatuity, 
he  hoped  his  position  on  the  sectional  question  would 
gain  him  the  support  of  the  South  and  yet  not  lose  him 
that  of  the  free  states.77 1 

On  July  9,  1850,  while  the  Compromise  measures 
were  pending,  President  Taylor  died  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  the  Vice- President,  Mr.  Fillmore.  While 
relations  between  Taylor  and  Fillmore  had  been  agree 
able,  it  was  understood  that  in  temper  and  policy  the 
two  men  were  essentially  unlike,  and  it  was  assumed 
that  the  personnel  of  the  Administration  would  un 
dergo  a  certain  amount  of  change.  u  It  is  at  this  mo 
ment  supposed,"  wrote  Webster  two  days  after  Fill- 
more7  s  accession,  "that  there  will  be  an  entirely  new 
cabinet.  Certainly  not  more  than  one  or  two  can  re 
main.77  On  the  following  day  he  wrote  :  u  As  to  the 
State  Department,  I  have  no  idea  who  will  have  it,  al 
though,  if  the  power  were  with  me,  I  think  I  could 
find  a  man  [Edward  Everett]  without  going  out  of 
Massachusetts,  who  has  talent  enough  and  knowledge 
enough  ;  but  whether  he  is  at  this  moment  so  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  that  his  appointment  would 
strike  the  public  mind  favorably,  may  be  a  doubt. 
Nobody  can  well  be  Secretary  of  State  who  has  not 
fortune,  unless  he  be  a  bachelor. ":!  But  the  man  to 
whom,  at  the  suggestion  of  Clay,  Fillmore  turned  was 
none  other  than  Webster  himself.  At  some  time  dur 
ing  the  three  or  four  days  succeeding  July  16th  the 

1  Rhodes,  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  158-159. 

2  Webster  to  Haven,  July  11,  1850.     Webster,  "  Private   Corre 
spondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  376. 

'Webster  to  Haven,  July  12,  1850.     2bid.,Vol.  II,  p.  376. 


SECKETAKY  OP  STATE  UNDER  PILLMOBE  383 

offer  of  the  State  portfolio  was  tendered  and,  with  re 
luctance,  accepted.  "I  yielded,"  wrote  the  new  ap 
pointee  on  July  21st,  "  to  what  has  been  suggested 
from  so  many  sides,  and  gave  up  my  own  wishes  to 
the  wishes  and  opinions  of  my  friends.  I  must  leave 
myself  in  their  hands.  There  is  work  enough  for  me, 
and  anxious  duties  in  plenty  ;  but  if  I  can  preserve  my 
health,  I  will  toil  through  a  hot  summer  here,  though 
I  confess  it  does  seem  hard  that  at  my  age  I  cannot  en 
joy  the  comforts  of  my  own  home.  I  was  persuaded 
to  think  it  was  my  duty,  in  the  present  crisis,  to  ac 
cept  a  seat  in  the  cabinet,  but  it  made  my  heart  ache 
to  think  of  it."  l  A  final  speech  in  the  Senate,  de 
livered  July  17th,  comprised  a  masterful  attempt  to 
impress  upon  Congress  and  the  country  the  supreme 
importance  of  the  allaying  of  sectional  strife  through 
the  adoption  of  the  Compromise. 2 

On  July  23,  1850,  Webster  entered  upon  his  second 
period  of  service  in  the  State  Department ;  and  the  po 
sition  at  this  point  assumed  was  retained  until  his 
death,  in  October,  1852.  There  was,  however,  in 
these  times  a  dearth  of  foreign  questions  of  serious  im 
port,  and  the  period  is  marked  by  no  great  diplomatic 
stroke  such  as  that  attained  in  the  Ashburton  treaty  of 
a  decade  earlier.  The  highly  important  treaty  of  1850 
with  Great  Britain  upon  the  subject  of  an  interoceanic 
canal  was  brought  to  completion  by  Secretary  Clayton 
before  Webster's  accession  to  office.  So  completely 
did  domestic  issues  overshadow  foreign  ones,  and  so 
prominently  was  the  name  of  Webster  associated  with 

1  Webster  to  Harvey,  July  21,  1580.  Webster,  "  Private  Cor 
respondence,  ''  Vol.  II,  p.  378.  Webster's  successor  in  the  Senate 
was  Robert  Rantoul. 

'"Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  V,  pp.  412-438  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  144-170. 


384  DANIEL  WEBSTEB 

these  issues,  that  throughout  the  period  of  his  secrt  - 
taryship  it  was  upon  them  principally  that  his  time 
and  thought  were  bestowed.  When  he  left  the  Senate 
for  the  cabinet  the  Compromise  measures  were  still  un 
der  discussion,  and  his  correspondence  during  the  en  - 
suing  weeks  dealt  almost  exclusively  with  them.  On 
September  10th,  when  at  last  all  of  the  measures  had 
become  law  except  the  one  relating  to  the  slave-trado 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  he  unburdened  himself  to 
a  friend  as  follows  :  l '  You  have  heard  how  all  things 
have  gone,  so  far.  I  confess  I  feel  relieved.  Since,' 
the  7th  of  March,  there  has  not  been  an  hour  in  which 
1  have  not  felt  a  '  crushing  '  weight  of  anxiety  and  re 
sponsibility.  I  have  gone  to  sleep  at  night,  and 
waked  in  the  morning  with  the  same  feeling  of  eat 
ing  care.  And  I  have  sat  down  to  no  breakfast  or 
dinner  to  which  I  have  brought  an  unconcerned  and 
easy  mind.  It  is  over.  My  part  is  acted,  and  I  am 
satisfied.  The  rest  I  leave  to  stronger  bodies  and 
fresher  minds."1 

By  some  writers  it  has  been  assumed  that  the 
1 '  crushing  weight  of  anxiety  and  responsibility ' '  to 
which  Webster  here  alludes  was  the  product  of  re 
morse.  Undoubtedly  there  was  involved  in  it  much  of 
regret.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  believing  that  Web 
ster  ever  regarded  his  course  upon  the  Compromise  as 
anything  other  than  honorable  and  patriotic.  The 
Seventh  of  March  speech  he  considered  the  most  im 
portant  effort  of  his  life,2  and,  far  from  feeling  regret 
or  chagrin  regarding  it,  he  was  active  throughout  his 

1  Webster  to  Harvey,  September  10,  1850.  Webster,  "  Private 
Correspondence/'  Vol.  II,  p.  385. 

-  Webster  to  Everett,  September  27,  1851.  Quoted  in  Curtis, 
"Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  529. 


SECEETAEY  OP  STATE  UNDEE  FILLMOEE   385 

remaining  years  in  promoting  its  circulation  among 
the  people  and  in  defending  the  propositions  upon 
which  it  was  based.  The  "  crushing  weight  "  was,  in 
fact,  apprehension  regarding  the  state  of  the  Union, 
and  relief  was  forthcoming  only  when  the  measures 
upon  whose  enactment  the  saving  of  the  country  was 
believed  to  be  dependent  were  at  last  carried  into  law. 
"I  think, "  it  was  declared  feelingly,  two  days  after 
the  adoption  of  the  Compromise  was  assured,  "  that  the 
country  has  had  a  providential  escape  from  very  con 
siderable  dangers."  To  Harvey,  Webster  wrote  opti 
mistically  on  October  2d  :  "My  main  relief,  however, 
is  that  Congress  got  through  so  well.  I  can  now  sleep 
o?  nights.  We  have  gone  through  the  most  important 
crisis  which  has  occurred  since  the  foundation  of  the 
Government ;  and  whatever  party  may  prevail,  here 
after,  the  Union  stands  firm.  Faction,  disunion,  and 
the  love  of  mischief  are  put  under,  at  least  for  the 
present,  and  I  hope  for  a  long  time. "  l 

During  the  years  which  elapsed  between  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Compromise  and  the  rise  of  the  Nebraska 
controversy,  in  1853,  the  supreme  issue  before  the 
country  was  that  of  the  finality  of  the  settlement  which 
had  been  effected.  Several  of  the  adjustments  which 
had  been  reached — the  admission  of  California  as  a 
free  state,  the  fixing  of  the  Texan  boundary,  the  as 
sumption  of  the  Texan  debt — were  beyond  question 
final.  Others — as  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  organization  of  New 
Mexico  and  Utah  without  federal  regulation  of  slavery 
— were  less  clearly  so.  And  one — the  enactment  of  the 
new  and  curiously  devised  fugitive  slave  law — was,  al- 

1  Webster  to  Harvey,  October  2.  1850.  Van  Tyne.  "Letters  of 
Webster,"  p.  433. 


386  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

most  from  the  first,  the  object  of  continuous  and  pow 
erful  attack,  by  which  its  stability  was  seriously 
threatened.  To  minimize  the  effects  of  continued  agi  - 
tation  men  of  influence  in  both  parties  (notably  Cats 
and  Douglas  among  the  Democrats  and  Clay,  Webstei , 
Choate,  and  Fillmore  among  the  Whigs)  organized  aii'i 
led  a  nation-wide  counter-movement  for  the  enforce  - 
ment  of  law  and  the  cessation  of  intersectioual  contro 
versy.  In  New  York,  Boston,  and  other  cities  ' i  union ' ' 
meetings  were  held,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  rally 
to  the  cause  of  peace  the  business,  professional,  and 
other  influential  elements.  In  this  work  Webster  was 
especially  active.  As  early  as  April  29,  1860,  he  had 
declared  to  a  Boston  gathering  that  he  would  support, 
"no  agitations  having  their  foundations  in  unreal, 
ghostly  abstractions v  ; '  and  throughout  ensuing 
months  he  wrote  numerous  letters  and  delivered  sev 
eral  public  addresses  in  cities  of  New  England,  New 
York,  and  Virginia  denouncing  the  renewal  of  agita 
tion  by  the  anti-slavery  radicals  and  urging  upon  the 
people  a  general  acquiescence  in  the  results  that  had 
been  attained.  ' l  No  man, "  he  preached,  "  is  at  liberty 
to  set  up,  or  affect  to  set  up,  his  own  conscience  above  the 
law7'  ;  and  it  was  declared  unequivocally  that  persons 
who  should  "  continue  to  talk  about  Wilmot  provisos, 
and  to  resist,  or  seek  to  repeal,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill, 
or  use  any  other  means  to  disturb  the  quiet  of  the 
country,  will  have  no  right  to  consider  themselves  as 
Whigs,  or  as  friends  of  the  Administration."  The 
campaign  for  finality  was  based  upon  a  misapprehen 
sion  of  the  actual  situation,  and  in  the  end  it  was  a. 
failure ;  but  its  apparent  success  for  a  time  deluded 
not  only  Webster  but  the  majority  of  moderate  people, 
1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  p.  387. 


SECEETAEY  OF  STATE  UNDEE  PILLMOEE  387 

ill  both  North  and  South,  into  thinking  that  the  slavery 
problem  had  really  reached  a  solution. 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  September  30, 
1850,  Webster  took  advantage  of  the  lack  of  pressing 
business  in  the  State  Department  to  spend  a  number  of 
weeks  at  Marshfield  and  Elms  Farm  in  quest  of  re 
lief  from  his  increasingly  serious  catarrhal  trouble. 
Throughout  the  ensuing  winter  he  was  called  upon 
continually  to  address  public  gatherings  of  widely 
varied  character.  On  December  22d  he  attended  a 
Pilgrim  Festival  in  New  York,  held  by  former  resi 
dents  of  New  England,  and  responded  to  a  toast  in  one 
of  the  most  impressive  brief  speeches  of  his  career.1 
Nearly  all  other  invitations  were  declined,  but  they 
not  uncommonly  elicited  letters  upon  public  issues 
which  found  their  way  into  print  and  attracted  wide 
spread  attention.  The  course  which  Webster  had 
pursued  in  the  debate  on  the  Compromise  continued  to 
be  discussed  with  vigor,  and  when  it  appeared  that  no 
shred  of  sympathy  with  the  prevailing  antagonism  in 
New  England  to  the  enforcement  of  the  fugitive  slave 
law  might  be  expected  from  him,  the  condemnation 
which  had  been  visited  upon  him  by  pulpit  and  aboli 
tionist  press  broke  forth  afresh.  In  April,  1851,  when 
it  was  proposed  to  tender  him  a  public  reception  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  the  board  of  aldermen,  after  arrange 
ments  had  been  effected  informally  and  Webster  had 
assented  to  the  plan,  quite  unexpectedly  refused  the  use 
of  the  hall  for  the  purpose.  In  the  prevailing  state  of 
the  public  mind  the  incident  aroused  tremendous  in 
terest  throughout  the  country.  In  Boston  there  was 
such  indignation  that  the  common  council,  explaining 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  II,   pp.  517-528;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  217-226. 


388  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

that  the  use  of  the  hall  had  been  refused  to  a  defender 
of  the  Compromise  only  because  it  had  been  refused  tc 
Wendell  Phillips  and  other  opponents  of  the  measure, 
signified  willingness  that  the  proposed  reception  be 
held.1  Webster,  however,  declined  to  appear,  declar 
ing  that  he  should  not  enter  the  ' '  Cradle  of  American 
Liberty  "  until  its  doors  should  be  thrown  open  with 
out  reserve  to  men  of  all  parties  who  were  "  true  to  the 
Union  as  well  as  to  Liberty." 

Throughout  the  year  1851  the  work  of  the  State  De 
partment  continued  to  be  almost  exclusively  of  a  routine 
character.  "  There  never  was  a  time,  I  think,"  wrote 
Webster,  "in  which  our  foreign  relations  were  more 
quiet.  There  seems  no  disturbing  breath  on  the  sur 
face.  All  the  diplomatic  gentlemen  here  are  amicably 
disposed,  and  our  intercourse  is  quite  agreeable. "2 
There  was,  however,  scant  opportunity  for  the  relaxa 
tion  of  which  the  Secretary  stood  in  need.  Even  the 
prosaic  tasks  of  administration  could  not  be  delegated 
wholly  to  subordinates,  and  from  numerous  quarters 
invitations,  some  of  which  could  not  well  be  refused, 
continued  to  pour  in.  At  the  middle  of  May  there  was 
a  trip,  in  the  company  of  President  Fillmore  and  sev 
eral  members  of  the  cabinet,  to  western  New  York  for 
the  purpose  of  participating  in  the  celebration  of  the 
opening  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  connecting  the  city  of 
New  York  with  Lake  Erie.  At  Buffalo  Webster  spoke 
twice,  once  upon  general  lines  at  a  public  dinner  given 
in  his  honor,  and  again  upon  the  political  issues  of  the 
day  at  a  great  open-air  gathering  of  the  people.  The 


1  Resolutions  of  Boston  Common  Council,  April  17,  1851.  Van 
Tyne,  "  Letters  of  Webster,"  p.  471. 

2 Webster  to  Blatchford,  May  4,  1851  ;  Webster,  "Private  Cor 
respondence,"  Vol.  II,  p.  441. 


SECEETAEY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMOEE   389 

second  speech,  delivered  before  ail  audience  vaster  than 
could  be  reached  by  the  human  voice,  and  amidst  a 
heavy  downpour  of  rain,  comprised  a  remarkably 
straightforward  and  convincing  defense  of  the  Com 
promise  and  of  the  principles  of  the  seventh  of  March. l 
On  the  return  journey  the  President  stopped  and  spoke 
briefly  in  numerous  towns  of  central  New  York,  and 
Vebster,  who  followed  some  days  later,  felt  obliged  to 
d)  the  same  thing  or  run  the  risk,  as  he  said,  of  being 
" thought  churlish."  On  May  28th  he  spoke  to  a 
g?eat  concourse  of  people  in  the  square  of  the  state 
Cipitol  at  Albany,  again  upon  the  issues  involved  in 
tie  Compromise.2  Shortly  thereafter  he  sought  mo- 
nentary  relaxation  in  the  hills  of  Virginia  j  and  at 
Capon  Springs,  June  28th,  the  people  from  fifty  miles 
around  tendered  him  a  public  dinner  and  listened  to 
not  only  a  formal  speech  but  also  an  impromptu  plea 
for  the  Union  called  out  by  the  remarks  of  another 
speaker  who,  while  expressing  his  approval  of  the 
principal  speech,  confessed  that  he  differed  from  Web 
ster  upon  almost  every  question  of  public  policy.3  On 
July  4th  the  corner-stone  of  an  imposing  addition  to 
the  Capitol  at  Washington  was  laid,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  urgent  request  of  the  committee  in  charge  of 
the  ceremony,  and  also  of  the  President,  Webster  de 
livered  the  principal  address.4  Following  this  came 
an  opportunity  to  repair  to  Marshfield,  and  there  and 
at  Elms  Farm  the  next  three  months  were  spent. 
The  period  was,  of  course,  not  entirely  devoid  of 

111  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  529-564 ;  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,''  Vol.  IV,  pp.  231-262. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  565-592;  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  267-290. 

3  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  429-441. 

4  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.   II,   pp.  593-620  ;  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  293-318. 


390  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

foreign  complications,  although  none  assumed  great 
seriousness.  Easily  the  most  notable  episode  within  it 
was  the  preparation  and  transmission  of  the  ' l  Hiilse- 
mann  letter."  In  April,  1849,  the  revolution  whicn 
was  sweeping  over  Austria-Hungary  culminated  in  a 
declaration  of  Hungarian  independence,  and  two 
months  later  President  Taylor  commissioned  an  emis 
sary,  Dudley  A.  Maun,  to  proceed  to  Hungary  to  i.i- 
vestigate  the  situation  with  a  view  to  a  recognition  of 
the  independence  of  the  country,  should  conditions  >c 
found  to  warrant  such  a  step.  Upon  his  arrival  in 
Europe  the  commissioner  learned  that  Hungary  hid 
failed  to  make  good  her  declaration,  whereupon,  with 
out  so  much  as  setting  foot  upon  Hungarian  soil,  ie 
reported  that  recognition  would  be  without  preseit 
justification.  Unfortunately,  the  purpose  ofthemi&- 
sion  became  known  to  the  Austrian  Government,  and 
through  the  charge  d'affaires  at  Washington,  Baron 
Hiilsemann,  protest  was  lodged  with  Secretary  Clay 
ton.  Explanations  were  entered  upon,  but  before  the 
incident  was  closed  there  occurred  the  death  of  the 
President  and  the  reorganization  of  the  cabinet,  so  thai 
the  framing  of  the  final  reply  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  devolved  upon  Webster. 

The  reply  which  was  made,  under  date  of  December 
21,  1850,  comprised  one  of  the  most  remarkable  docu 
ments  which  has  emanated  at  any  time  from  the  State 
Department,  In  it  Webster  defined  the  past  policy  of 
the  United  States  in  the  matter  of  recognition,  denied 
that  the  sending  of  Mann  was  an  unfriendly  act,  and 
asserted  the  right  of  the  American  people  to  extend 
their  sympathy  to  oppressed  and  struggling  mankind 
anywhere  and  at  all  times.  The  tone  assumed  was  one 
of  distinct  lordliness.  "The  power  of  this  republic  at 


SECRETABY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMOEE  391 

the  present  moment,"  it  was  declared,  "  is  spread  over 
a  region  one  of  the  richest  and  most  fertile  on  the 
globe,  and  of  an  extent  in  comparison  with  which  the 
possessions  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg  are  but  as  a 
patch  on  the  earth's  surface.  Its  population,  already 
twenty-five  millions,  will  exceed  that  of  the  Austrian 
Empire  within  the  period  during  which  it  may  be 
hoped  that  Mr.  Hiilsemann  may  yet  remain  in  the 
honorable  discharge  of  his  duties  to  his  government. 
.  .  .  Life,  liberty,  property,  and  all  personal  rights, 
are  amply  secured  to  all  citizens  and  protected  by 
just  and  stable  laws;  and  credit,  public  and  private,  is 
as  well  established  as  in  any  government  of  Continental 
Europe  ;  and  the  country,  in  all  its  interests  and  con 
cerns,  partakes  most  largely  in  all  the  improvements 
and  progress  which  distinguish  the  age.  Certainly  the 
United  States  may  be  pardoned,  even  by  those  who 
profess  adherence  to  the  principles  of  absolute  govern 
ment,  if  they  entertain  an  ardent  affection  for  those 
popular  forms  of  political  organization  which  have  so 
rapidly  advanced  their  own  prosperity  and  happiness, 
and  enabled  them,  in  so  short  a  period,  to  bring  their 
country,  and  the  hemisphere  to  which  it  belongs,  to 
the  notice  and  respectful  regard,  not  to  say  the  ad 
miration,  of  the  civilized  world."1 

To  this  communication  the  Austrian  charge,  after 
receiving  instructions,  replied  that  his  government 
remained  of  the  same  mind  as  before,  but  was  not  dis 
posed  to  jeopardize  the  friendship  existing  between 
the  two  countries  by  prolonging  the  controversy. 
Webster  reciprocated  with  an  expression  of  good-will, 

144  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI,  p.  496.  For  the  Hiilsemann 
correspondence  see  "Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  488-506. 
and  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XII,  pp.  162-180. 


392  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  the  incident  was  closed.  That  the  language  em 
ployed  in  the  letter  quoted  savored  strongly  of  spread- 
eagleism  and  might  hardly  have  been  used  with  im 
punity  toward  a  nation  better  circumstanced  is  hardly 
subject  to  dispute.  The  letter  was,  as  one  historian 
fairly  characterizes  it,  "  hardly  more  than  a  stump 
speech  under  diplomatic  guise."1  In  a  note  to  his 
friend  Ticknor  Webster  defended  it  as  follows :  "If 
you  say  that  my  Hiilsemaun  letter  is  boastful  and 
rough,  I  shall  own  the  soft  impeachment.  My  excuse 
is  twofold  :  1.  I  thought  it  well  enough  to  speak  out, 
and  tell  the  people  of  Europe  who  and  what  we  are, 
and  awaken  them  to  a  just  sense  of  the  unparalleled 
growth  of  this  country.  2.  I  wished  to  write  a  paper 
which  should  touch  the  national  pride,  and  make  a 
man  feel  sheepish  and  look  silly  who  should  speak  of 
disunion."  2  In  short,  the  letter,  while  addressed  to 
the  representative  of  Austria,  was  calculated  to  make 
appeal  to  the  peoples  of  both  Europe  and  America — 
to  inspire  in  the  one  a  respect  for  the  tremendous 
progress  of  the  United  States  and  to  arouse  in  the  other 
the  spirit  of  patriotism,  pride,  and  devotion  to  the  Con 
stitution  under  which  this  progress  had  been  achieved. 
At  a  later  point  in  Webster's  secretaryship  the 
Hungarian  question  became  again  troublesome.  Early 
in  1851  arrangements  were  procured  whereby  Louis 
Kossuth  and  a  number  of  other  Hungarian  exiles,  held 
since  1849  as  semi -prisoners  in  Turkey,  were  to  be 
allowed  to  be  transported  to  the  United  States  on  an 
American  man-of-war,  and  in  October  of  the  same 
year  the  agreement  was  carried  into  effect.  Upon  his 

1  Rhodes,  "History  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  I,  p.  206. 
'Webster  to  Ticknor,  January  16,  1851.     Curtis,  "Webster," 
Vol.  II,  p.  537. 


SEOEETAEY  OF  STATE  UNDER  FILLMOEE  393 

arrival  the  Hungarian  leader  was  lauded  by  the  Presi 
dent  in  his  annual  message,  presented  ceremoniously 
by  Webster  at  the  White  House,  received  with  marks 
of  respect  by  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  accorded 
a  continuous  ovation  wherever  he  appeared.  The 
effect  was  to  delude  him  momentarily  into  thinking 
that  the  United  States  might  be  induced  to  furnish 
diplomatic  and  financial  aid  in  the  establishment  of 
his  country's  independence.  The  scrupulous  caution 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  other  officials,  however, 
together  with  the  awakened  sense  of  the  people  and 
the  indiscretions  of  Kossuth  himself,  made  it  entirely 
clear  in  time  that  the  great  agitator  and  his  com 
patriots  could  expect  from  the  United  States  nothing 
beyond  good-will  and  hospitality.  The  attentions 
which  were  showered  upon  Kossuth  angered  Hiilse- 
maun,  and  after  a  banquet  had  been  tendered  the 
refugee  at  the  capital,  January  7,  1852,  at  which 
Webster  was  one  of  the  speakers,  formal  protest  was 
entered  at  the  State  Department.1  Receiving  no  atten 
tion  in  this  quarter,  the  charge  appealed  in  person  to 
the  President,  but  only  to  be  told  to  confine  his  com 
munications  to  the  Department.  On  April  20,  1852, 
he  informed  Webster  that  his  government  would  not 
permit  him  to  remain  longer  "to  continue  official 
intercourse  with  the  principal  promoters  of  the  much 
to  be  lamented  Kossuth  episode.'7  He  did  not,  how 
ever,  withdraw  at  once,  and  when,  in  1853,  after 
Webster's  death,  there  arose  the  complicated  Koszta 
Case,  involving  the  status  of  a  Hungarian  refugee,  it 
was  still  Hiilsemann  who  voiced  the  demands  of  the 
Austrian  authorities. 


Webster's  speech  upon  this  occasion  see  "Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  452-462. 


394  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Aside  from  certain  questions  relating  to  the  inter 
pretation  and  execution  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty 
which  began  to  arise  thus  early,  the  only  other  diplo 
matic  issue  of  importance  during  Webster's  second 
secretaryship  was  that  which  was  created  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain  in  consequence  of  the  filibus 
tering  expeditions  of  Narcisco  Lopez  and  his  followers 
in  Cuba.  Lopez  was  a  South  American  who  in  1848 
had  led  an  unsuccessful  revolution  in  Cuba  and  who, 
after  being  condemned  to  death,  had  contrived  to 
escape  to  the  United  States.  Despite  the  continued 
protests  of  the  Spanish  minister,  Calderon  de  la  iBarca, 
and  the  efforts  of  the  authorities  at  Washington,  he 
contrived  to  fit  out  in  the  United  States  three  success- 
ive  filibustering  expeditions  against  the  Spanish  gov 
ernment  in  Cuba.1  The  last  one,  undertaken  in 
August,  1851,  resulted  in  his  own  capture  and  death 
and  the  execution  of  some  fifty  of  his  followers,  includ 
ing  several  representatives  of  well-known  Southern 
families.  Throughout  the  South  indignation  was  in 
tense,  and  at  New  Orleans,  the  centre  of  filibustering 
activities,  a  inob  attacked  the  houses  and  shops  of 
Spaniards,  wrecked  the  Spanish  consulate,  tore  in 
pieces  the  Spanish  flag,  and  defaced  the  portrait  of  the 
Spanish  Queen. 

On  October  14th  the  Spanish  minister,  under  in 
structions,  made  demand  upon  the  United  States  for 
reparation,  insisting  especially  that  all  property -hold 
ers  should  be  indemnified  for  their  losses  and  that  the 
Spanish  flag  should  be  honored  in  some  manner  no  less 
conspicuous  than  that  in  which  it  had  been  insulted. 
Webster  recognized  that,  in  partjat  least,  the  demand 
was  entirely  reasonable.  He  pointed  out  that  such  of 
1  The  first  did  not  succeed  in  reaching  the  island. 


SECKETARY  OF  STATE  UtfDEK  PILLMORB    396 

the  Spaniards  who  had  suffered  losses  as  were  not 
official  persons  must  look  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  for  protection  of  their  interests,  but  admitted 
that  such  as  were  Spanish  officials,  principally  the 
consul,  stood  upon  a  different  footing  and  might  prop 
erly  seek  redress  through  the  representations  of  their 
own  government.  There  was  no  precedent  upon  the 
subject,  but  Webster  agreed  that  Congress  should  be 
requested  to  provide  for  the  consul's  indemnification 
in  full,  and  likewise  that  by  means  of  a  ceremony  of 
salutation  the  honor  which  was  asked  for  the  flag  of 
Spain  should  be  accorded.  The  adjustment  proposed 
proved  acceptable  and  was  carried  into  effect.  So 
tactfully,  indeed,  was  the  situation  handled  that  one 
hundred  and  sixty  survivors  of  the  Lopez  expedition 
who  had  been  carried  to  Spain  with  the  prospect  of  be 
ing  set  to  labor  in  the  mines  were  allowed  their  liberty, 
although,  being  filibustered,  they  had  no  legal  claim 
upon  the  United  States  for  protection.1 

1  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  VI,  pp.  507-617,  and  "  Writings  and 
Speeches,"  Vol.  XII,  pp.  181-191. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  ELECTION  OF  1852  :      LAST  PHASES 

WITH  the  approach  of  the  year  1852  there  was 
opened  a  chapter  which  was  destined  to  be  the  last, 
and  the  most  unhappy,  of  Webster's  entire  public 
career,  that,  namely,  comprising  the  final  failure_to  ob- 

for  thq..presi- 


party  situation  preceding  the  campaign  of 
1852  was  in  many  respects  confused.  Nominally,  the 
Whigs  were  in  power  ;  but  the  administration  of  Fill- 
more,  although  entirely  respectable,  was  not  adapted 
to  command  enthusiasm,  and  in  the  state  and  congres 
sional  elections  of  1850  and  1851  much  ground  was  lost, 
in  both  North  and  South,  to  the  Democrats.  Apart 
from  slavery,  there  was  an  almost  utter  lack  of  issues. 
The  tariff,  the  currency,  internal  improvements  —  all 
were  dead  or  quiescent.  And  a  titanic  effort  was  be 
ing  made  to  convince  the  country  that  even  the  slavery 
question  was  no  more.  In  the  campaign  for  finality 
which  had  been  in  progress  since  the  adoption  of  the 
Compromise  the  Democrats,  at  least,  had  been  mark 
edly  successful.  In  New  York  the  return  of  the  Barn 
burners  had  restored  the  discipline  of  the  party  ;  and 
the  mass  of  the  membership,  in  North  and  South 
alike,  was  ready  to  abide  by  the  arrangements  that 
had  been  effected  and  to  frown  down  any  sort  of  at 
tempt  to  renew  agitation.  The  Whigs  had  been  less 
successful.  Between  the  Southern  wing  of  the  party, 
strongly  attached  to  the  Com  promise,  and  the  Northern 
wing,  large  elements  of  which  detested  the  new  fugitive 


ELECTION  OF  1852  :  LAST  PHASES       397 

slave  law  and  stood  ready  to  abet  its  non-enforcement, 
there  yawned  a  chasm  by  whose  widening  the  party 
was  destined  soon  to  be  rent  entirely  asunder.  Yet  at 
the  opening  of  1852  most  of  the  Whig  leaders  talked  of 
finality  with  quite  as  much  gusto  as  did  their  Demo 
cratic  rivals,  and  it  was  assumed  that  slavery  would 
play  but  little  part  in  the  ensuing  contest.  On  both 
sides  there  was  rather  more  than  the  customary  amount 
of  preliminary  discussion  and  intrigue,  centring,  how 
ever,  about  candidates,  rather  than  about  issues. 

The  Democratic  convention  met  at  Baltimore,  June 
1st.  The  unity  of  the  party  was  completely  restored, 
good  feeling  prevailed,  and  no  difficulty  was  encoun 
tered  in  the  framing  and  adoption  of  a  platform  declaring 
for  a  faithful  execution  of  the  Compromise  measures 
(including  the  fugitive  slave  law)  and  announcing  the 
purpose  of  the  party  to  resist  "all  attempts  at  renew 
ing,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the  sla 
very  question,  under  whatever  shape  or  color  the  at 
tempt  may  be  made. ' '  The  principal  candidates  for 
the  nomination  were  Cass,  Buchanan,  Marcy,  and 
Douglas.  No  one  of  these,  however,  could  obtain  the 
two-thirds  majority  necessary  for  a  choice,  and  in  the 
end,  on  the  forty-ninth  ballot,  a  stampede  resulted 
in  the  naming  of  a  "dark  horse,"  Franklin  Pierce,  of 
New  Hampshire. 

Two  weeks  later  the  Whig  convention  assembled  in 
the  same  city — indeed,  in  the  same  building.  Long- 
in  advance  of  the  meeting  three  candidates  had  been 
brought  into  the  field,  and  when  the  convention  met  it 
was  reasonably  certain  that  to  one  of  the  three  the 
nomination  would  fall.  The  three  were  President 
Fillmore,  General  Scott,  and  Webster.  The  candidacy 
of  Fillmore  was  entirely  natural.  His  conduct  of  the 


398  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

presidency  had  been  dignified  and  efficient,  his  admin 
istration  was  connected  in  the  public  mind  with  the 
critically  important  Compromise  adjustment ;  and,  al 
though  president  by  chance  rather  than  by  the  suffrage 
of  the  people,  the  fact  that  he  had  a  record  in  office  to  be 
approved  or  disapproved  gave  him  peculiar  right  to  con 
sideration.  He  was  in  no  wise  active  as  a  candidate, 
but  he  permitted  his  friends  to  use  his  name,  and  in 
many  portions  of  the  country,  notably  the  South,  he 
acquired  a  large  and  determined  following.  Some  of 
Webster's  supporters  warmly  resented  Pillmore's 
candidacy,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  Webster  him 
self  did  so.  As  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  he  continued 
on  the  most  agreeable  terms  with  his  chief.  For  the 
candidacy  of  General  Scott  there  was  little  justifica 
tion.  It  was  promoted  principally  by  Northern 
Whigs  to  whom  the  Compromise,  with  which  both 
Fillmore  and  Webster  were  identified,  was  objection 
able  ;  and  its  further  basis  was  the  hope  that  with  a 
military  candidate  the  triumphs  of  1840  and  1848 
might  be  duplicated.  It  might  be  that,  as  one  of  the 
General's  enthusiastic  advocates  declared,  he  was 
tl  greater  than  Cortez  in  his  triumphant,  glorious,  and 
almost  miraculous  march  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  old 
city  of  the  Aztecs  "  ;  but  there  was  nothing  to  indicate 
that  he  possessed  even  ordinary  qualities  of  statesman 
ship. 

The  campaign  for  the  nomination  of  Webster  was 
l)egun  actively  in  the  autumn  of  1851.  Now  that 
Clay,  by  reason  of  failing  health  and  successive  de 
feats,  was  definitely  removed  from  the  field,  it  was 
considered  by  the  friends  of  the  Massachusetts  states 
man  that  the  claims  of  their  leader  could,  and  should, 
no  longer  be  denied.  In  November,  1851,  a  gathering 


ELECTION  OF  1862 :  LAST  PHASES       399 

of  Massachusetts  Whigs  promulgated  an  address  to 
the  people,  written  by  Edward  Everett,  in  which, 
after  the  qualifications  of  Webster  had  been  duly 
extolled,  the  opinion  was  expressed  that  the  time 
had  come  when  the  welfare  of  the  country  required 
"that  mere  party  claims  should  yield  to  higher 
considerations,"  and  that  in  the  support  of  the 
Massachusetts  candidate  "good  citizens  of  both  par 
ties  and  in  both  of  the  great  sections  of  the  country 
might  cordially  and  consistently  unite.'7  Similar 
meetings  were  held  elsewhere,  notably  one  in  Xew 
York  City  by  which  an  address  of  similar  purport, 
written  by  William  M.  Evarts,  was  adopted  and  put 
in  the  course  of  circulation.  A  public  letter  of  Clay, 
urging  that  the  Compromise  be  regarded  as  final,  was 
accepted  as  an  expression  of  good- will  toward  the 
Webster  candidacy,  although  nothing  was  said  specif 
ically  upon  that  subject.  During  the  winter  of  1851- 
1852  the  movement  was  kept  up.  Webster  himself 
said  and  wrote  little  concerning  it,  but  he  followed  the 
efforts  of  his  friends  with  interest  and  appreciation. 
His  own  public  activities  at  the  time,  aside  from  the 
administration  of  the  State  Department,  were  confined 
to  the  making  of  a  number  of  addresses  of  a  non- 
political  character,  chief  among  them  being  a  discourse 
on  "The  Dignity  of  Historical  Compositions,"  de 
livered  February  24,  1852,  before  the  ISew  York  His 
torical  Society ; l  a  speech  before  the  legislature  of 
Pennsylvania,  April  1st ;  an  address  at  Annapolis  ;  and 
a  neighborly  talk  in  Faneuil  Hall,  May  22d,  following 
partial  recovery  from  a  fall  from  a  carriage  suffered 
while  driving  near  Marshfield.2 

1  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  463-497. 
•Ibid.,  pp.  510-522. 


400  DANIEL  WEBSTBE 

In  April,  1852,  Webster  received  from  a  Virginia 
Whig,  G.  A.  Tavenner,  acting  in  behalf  of  the  South 
ern  Whigs  generally,  a  solicitous  letter  of  inquiry 
regarding  the  purposes  of  the  Northern  Whigs  in 
respect  to  the  coming  presidential  contest  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  Compromise  of  1850.  It  was  ex 
plained  that  Webster's  high  reputation  and  his  fidelity 
to  national  Whig  principles  coinx^rised  the  special 
reason  for  addressing  such  an  inquiry  to  him.  The 
Southern  Whigs,  it  was  asserted,  had  ever  exhibited  a 
national  spirit  during  the  sectional  contests  by  which 
the  country  had  been  disturbed,  and  they  had  assumed, 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Compromise,  that  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  would  no  longer  prevent  concert  of 
action  among  the  members  of  the  party  in  the  various 
portions  of  the  Union.  The  disposition  in  the  North, 
however,  to  keep  up  the  contest — especially  the  re 
opening  of  agitation  upon  the  subject  of  the  return  of 
fugitive  slaves — had  aroused  deep  apprehension,  and 
had  raised  again  the  question  as  to  what  the  South  as 
a  section  might  expect  from  the  North,  and  especially 
from  the  Northern  wing  of  the  great  Whig  party. 
"You  have  the  means,"  it  was  urged,  "of  knowing 
the  state  of  public  sentiment  at  the  North.  You  have 
been  identified  with  no  section,  in  sectional  controver 
sies.  You  occupy  a  position  from  which  you  can 
speak  plainly,  and  I  doubt  not  your  advice  will  be 
heeded.  We  are  aware  that  you  will  differ  from  many 
Southern  Whigs  on  the  abstract  question  of  slavery, 
but  we  also  know  that  you  have  always  stood  forth  the 
bold  and  fearless  defender  of  the  Constitution,  and  so 
as  that  instrument  guarantees  them  to  us  you  have 
been  the  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  South.  What 
then  in  your  opinion  has  the  South  a  right  to  expect 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       401 

from  the  North  f  Upon  what  platform  are  the  Whigs, 
North  and  South,  to  stand  in  the  coming  presidential 
contest  ?  Is  the  Constitution  to  be  the  bond  of  Union 
between  them?  Are  the  late  adjustment  measures  to 
be  considered  a  final  settlement  in  principle  and  sub 
stance  of  all  the  subjects  which  they  embrace,  or  is  the 
Whig  party  henceforth  to  be  a  sectional  instead  of  a 
great  national  party  ?  "  l 

The  reply  addressed  by  Webster  to  Tavenner  oil  the 
following  day  contains  so  explicit  an  affirmation  of 
personal  policy  and  conviction  as  to  be  worth  quoting 
in  full.  It  runs  : 

"Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  Sth  inst.,  and  thank  you 
for  what  you  are  pleased  to  say  of  my  fidelity  to 
great  national  Whig  principles.  I  trust  there  is  not  a 
man  in  the  country  who  doubts  my  approbation  of 
those  measures,  which  are  usually  called  t  Compromise 
Measures,'  or  my  fixed  determination  to  uphold  them 
steadily  and  firmly.  Nothing  but  a  deep  sense  of  duty 
led  me  to  take  the  part  which  I  did  take  in  bringing 
about  their  adoption  by  Congress,  and  that  same  sense 
of  duty  remains  with  unabated  force.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  those  measures,  one  and  all,  were  necessary  and 
expedient,  and  ought  to  be  adhered  to,  by  all  friends 
of  the  Constitution,  and  all  lovers  of  their  country. 
That  one  among  them  which  appears  to  have  given 
the  greatest  dissatisfaction,  I  mean  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  I  hold  to  be  a  law,  entirely  constitutional,  highly 
proper,  and  absolutely  essential  to  the  peace  of  the 
country.  Such  a  law  is  demanded  by  the  plain  written 
words  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  how  any  man  can  wish 

^avenuer  to  Webster,  April  8,  1852.  Van  Tyne,  "  Letters  of 
Daniel  Webster,"  p.  521. 


402  DANIEL  WEBSTEK 

to  abrogate  or  destroy  it,  and  at  the  same  time  say  that; 
lie  is  a  supporter  of  the  Constitution,  and  willing  to 
adhere  to  those  provisions  in  it  which  are  clear  and 
positive  injunctions  and  restraints,  passes  my  power 
of  comprehension.  My  belief  is,  that  when  the  pas 
sions  of  men  subside,  and  reason  and  true  patriotisn 
are  allowed  to  have  their  proper  sway,  the  public 
mind,  North  and  South,  will  come  to  a  proper  state 
upon  these  questions.  I  do  not  believe  that  furthei 
agitation  can  make  any  considerable  progress  at  the 
North.  The  great  mass  of  the  people,  I  am  sure,  are 
sound,  and  have  no  wish  to  interfere  with  such  things 
as  are,  by  the  Constitution,  placed  under  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  separate  states.  I  have  noticed,  indeed, 
not  without  regret,  certain  proceedings  to  which  you 
have  alluded,  and  in  regard  to  these  I  have  to  say  that, 
gentlemen  may  not  think  it  necessary,  or  proper,  that 
they  should  be  called  upon  to  affirm,  by  resolution, 
that  which  is  already  the  existing  law  of  the  land. 
That  any  positive  movement  to  repeal  or  alter,  any  or 
all,  the  Compromise  Measures,  would  meet  with  any 
general  encouragement,  or  support,  I  do  not  at  all  be 
lieve.  But  however  that  way  be,  my  own  sentiments 
remain,  and  are  likely  to  remain,  quite  unchanged.  I 
am  in  favor  of  upholding  the  constitution,  in  the 
general,  and  all  its  particulars.  I  am  in  favor  of 
respecting  its  authority  and  obeying  its  injunctions ; 
and  to  the  end  of  my  life,  shall  do  all  in  my  power 
to  fulfil,  honestly  and  faithfully,  all  its  provisions.  I 
look  upon  the  Compromise  Measures  as  a  just,  proper, 
fair,  and  final  adjustment  of  the  questions  to  which 
they  relate ;  and  no  re-agitation  of  those  questions,  no 
new  opening  of  them,  no  effort  to  create  dissatisfac 
tion  with  them,  will  ever  receive  from  me  the  least 


ELECTION  OP  1852:  LAST  PHASES       403 

countenance  or  support,  concurrence,  or  approval,  at 
any  time,  or  under  any  circumstances. "  l 

This  letter,  forthwith  given  to  the  press,  served  to 
make  clear  to  the  entire  country  the  precise  position 
which  Webster  occupied.  There  was  little  or  nothing 
in  it  that  was  new  ;  but  it  at  least  demonstrated  afresh 
that  Webster  stood  absolutely  immovable  for  finality. 
By  conservatives  its  contents  were  received  with  favor, 
but  by  anti-slavery  radicals,  with  forceful  expressions 
of  dissatisfaction.  The  assurances  which  it  contained, 
however,  did  not  shake  the  determination  of  the  South 
ern  Whigs  to  give  their  support  first  of  all  to  the  can 
didacy  of  Fillmore.  Many  expressed  their  willingness, 
in  the  event  of  the  impossibility  of  procuring  Fillmore' s 
nomination,  to  turn  to  Webster,  who  was  much  more 
acceptable  than  Scott ;  but  it  was  apparent  before  the 
assembling  of  the  Baltimore  convention  that  only  New 
England,  as  a  section,  would  vote  for  Webster  on  the 
first  ballot.2  The  hope  of  the  Webster  campaigners 
lay  in  the  prevention  of  Northern  defection  to  Scott 
before  there  should  have  arisen  an  opportunity  for  a 
Southern  turning  from  Fillmore  to  Webster. 

The  Whig  convention,  which  assembled  June  16th, 
has  been  characterized  rightly  as  "a  theatre  of  in 
trigue."  On  the  opening  day  the  Southern  Whigs 
met  and  adopted  a  body  of  resolutions  designed  to 
conciliate  all  elements,  and  subsequently  these  were 
thrust  through  the  convention  without  debate  as  the 
platform  of  the  party.  One  of  them  proclaimed,  in 
effect,  the  validity  of  the  principle  of  " state  rights," 

1  Webster  to  G.  A.  Tavenner,  April  9,  1852.     Van  Tyne,  "Let 
ters  of  Daniel  Webster,"  pp.  521-522. 

2  By  reason  of  lingering  discontent  with  the  Ashbnrton  treaty 
Maine,  however,  was  certain  to  withhold  her  support. 

3  Stan  wood,  "The  Presidency,"  p.  250. 


404  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

wliile  another  asserted  that  the  Compromise  measures 
of  1850,  "  the  act  known  as  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
included,  are  received  and  acquiesced  in  by  the  Whig 
party  of  the  United  States  as  a  settlement  in  principle 
and  substance  of  the  dangerous  and  exciting  questions 
which  they  embrace  "  ;  also  that  the  strict  en forceniem 
of  these  measures  would  be  insisted  upon,  and  that  all 
further  agitation  of  "the  question  thus  settled'7  would 
be  deprecated  and  resisted.  By  way  of  concession  to 
the  Northern  wing  of  the  party,  the  term  "  final "  was 
not  employed  ;  but  the  finality  of  the  Compromise  was 
in  effect  declared,  none  the  less.  The  platform  had 
the  approval  of  Webster's  friends  and  of  Webster 
himself. 

The  contest  for  the  nomination  of  candidates  was 
prolonged  and  keen.  On  the  first  ballot  Fillmore  re 
ceived  133  votes,  Scott  131,  and  Webster  29.  Webster 
had  votes  from  all  of  the  New  England  states  except 
Maine,  although  he  did  not  receive  the  unanimous 
support  of  the  delegation  from  his  own  state.  New 
York  gave  him  two  votes,  Wisconsin  three,  and  Cal  i  - 
foruia  one.  The  South  gave  him  none  at  all.  Fill- 
more  received  every  Southern  vote  except  one  ;  wliile 
Scott  was  given  all  of  the  votes  from  the  North  except 
the  twenty-nine  that  were  cast  for  Webster  and  sixteen 
that  went  to  Fillmore.  Succeeding  ballots  showed 
little  change.  The  highest  total  attained  by  Webster 
was  thirty-two.  On  the  fiftieth  ballot  Southern  votes 
began  to  be  turned  from  Fillmore  to  Scott,  and  on  the 
fifty-third  the  number  of  changes  was  sufficient  to  ef 
fect  a  nomination.  The  final  result  was:  Scott,  159  ; 
Fillmore,  112 ;  Webster,  21. 

Inasmuch  as  under  Whig  practice  a  bare  majority 
was  required  for  a  nomination,  the  conservatives  who 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       405 

so  persistently  divided  their  support  between  Fillinore 
and  Webster  might  easily,  by  combination,  have  car 
ried  the  day.  As  Mr.  Curtis  observes,  of  the  delegates 
who  considered  that  the  policy  embodied  in  the  Com 
promise  Measures  ought  to  be  adhered  to,  and  that  the 
candidate  of  the  Whig  party  ought  to  be  a  real  rep 
resentative  of  that  policy,  there  were  at  all  times 
more  than  enough  to  have  made  Mr.  Webster  the 
nominee.7'1  Similarly,  there  were  enough  to  have 
nominated  Mr.  Fillmore.  But  no  such  rapprochement 
took  place,  despite  the  fact  that  Webster  and  Fillmore 
were  upon  the  best  of  terms  personally,  that  the  two 
men  were  in  Washington  during  the  balloting  in  the 
neighboring  city,  that  an  intervening  Sunday  afforded 
special  opportunity  for  negotiation,  and,  finally,  that  a 
delegate  from  Buffalo  had  all  the  while  in  his  posses 
sion  a  letter  written  by  Fillinore  withdrawing  from  the 
race,  with  instructions  to  present  it  to  the  convention 
at  his  discretion.  Webster's  strength  with  the  con 
vention  was,  of  course,  far  greater  than  his  quota  of 
votes  would  seem  to  indicate.  Yet,  to  a  large  degree, 
his  strength  was  of  such  a  sort  that  it  could  not  be 
realized  upon,  i.  e.,  could  not  be  converted  into  votes. 
He  was  the  second  choice  of  most  of  the  Fillmore  men. 
But  these  men  were  pledged  to  Fillmore  as  long  as 
there  should  appear  any  chance  whatsoever  of  his 
nomination,  and  the  fact  that  Webster  could  not  com 
mand  the  united  support  of  his  own  section,  even  of 
his  own  state,  operated  to  prevent  a  turning  to  him. 
At  ODC  point  duriog  the  balloting,  after  the  nomina 
tion  of  Fillmore  was  largely  despaired  of,  the  Southern 
friends  of  Webster  proposed  to  deliver  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  candidate  one  hundred  and  six  Southern  votes 
1  Curtis,  "  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  620. 


406  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

provided  he  could  obtain  as  many  as  forty  votes  in  the 
states  north  of  Maryland.  These,  with  the  one  vote 
from  California  which  could  be  counted  upon,  would 
insure  him  the  nomination.  His  Northern  supporters 
worked  desperately  to  meet  the  condition,  but  were 
unable  to  do  so,  and  when  the  Southern  break  came  it 
took  the  form  of  a  slight,  but  decisive,  defection  from 
Fillmore  to  Scott. 

Both  the  action  of  the  convention  and  the  intrigues 
by  which  it  had  been  accompanied  betrayed  the  fact 
that  the  Whig  party,  far  from  possessing  the  solidarity 
and  strength  of  conviction  which  was  claimed  for  it, 
was  in  reality  in  imminent  danger  of  dissolution.  In 
its  platform  it  looked  strongly  in  one  direction,  in  its 
nomination  just  as  decidedly  in  another  ;  and  events 
following  the  adjournment  of  the  convention  tended 
but  to  accentuate  the  weakness  of  position  thus  ex 
hibited.  On  July  3d  a  group  of  Georgia  Whigs,  led 
by  Alexander  H.  Stephens  and  Eobert  Tooinbs,  pub 
lished  a  manifesto  announcing  their  purpose  to  oppose 
the  election  of  Scott,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not 
sufficiently  committed  to  the  finality  of  the  Compromise 
measures.  Another  group  formed  an  independent 
Webster  ticket,  and  throughout  the  South  generally  it 
was  made  plain  that  the  regular  nominee  of  the  party 
would  receive  scant  support.  Large  numbers  of 
Whigs  avowed  a  purpose  to  support  Pierce,  in  the 
promotion  of  whose  election  the  strength  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  in  both  North  and  South,  was  solidly  en 
listed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Free  Soil  element  of 
the  party  could  not  acquiesce  in  either  Baltimore  plat 
form,  and  at  a  convention  held  during  the  month  of 
August  John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  placed 
in  nomination.  In  Massachusetts  the  nomination  of 


ELECTION  OF  1852:  LAST  PHASES       407 

Scott  was  received  coldly,  and  in  time  an  independent 
Webster  electoral  ticket  was  put  in  the  field.  This 
nomination,  as  that  made  by  the  Georgia  Whigs,  and 
also  one  tendered  by  a  Native  American  convention  at 
Trenton,  was  received  by  W^ebster  with  no  indication 
of  acceptance  or  refusal.  Throughout  the  country  as  a 
whole  the  campaign,  barren  of  vital  issues,  was  petty 
and  uninteresting. 

To  Webster  the  jailnre  to  obtain  the  nomination  at 
Baltimore  brought  deepdisappoi  ntment.  Both  be 
cause  of  his  age  and  increasing  infirmity  and  because 
of  the  precaripus_cpudition  of  his  party,  failure  at  this 
point  meant,  and  was  understood  to  mean,  that  the 
long-coveted  honor  would  never  be  attained.  Out 
wardly  he  maintained  entire  composure,  and  even  an 
appearance  of  indifference  ;  but  to  his  friends  he  con 
fided  freely  his  real  feeling  of  regret.  It  was  not  so 
much  the  loss  of  the  nomination  that  distressed  him  as 
the  fact  that,  while  the  Southern  delegates  had  pro 
tested  that  they  were  ready  to  give  him  their  support 
when  once  the  nomination  of  Fillrnore  should  have  be 
come  impossible,  they  had  failed  actually  to  do  so. 
The  reasons  which  had  prevented  them  from  doing  so 
were  not  of  record,  and  on  that  account,  it  seemed  to 
him,  a  "  false  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  country" 
was  not  unlikely  to  be  written — a  chapter  in  whose 
pages  his  hold  upon  the  nation  would  be  taken  as  in 
dicated  merely  by  the  meagre  vote  at  Baltimore  for  his 
nomination.  So  deeply  was  the  nomination  of  Scott 
resented  that  throughout  the  course  of  the  campaign 
Webster  could  never  bring  himself  to  give  the  Whig 
candidate  an  iota  of  support.  Indeed,  he  freely 
avowed  his  belief  that  the  party  was  approaching  dis 
solution,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  advise  his  friends 


408  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

to  vote  for  Pierce,  the  one  candidate  who  was  com 
mitted  irrevocably  to  the  upholding  of  the  Compromise. 
He  predicted,  furthermore,  that  if,  in  the  event  of 
Pierce' s  election,  the  Democratic  party  should  remain 
faithful  to  its  platform  it  would  long  retain  the  confi 
dence  of  the  country  and  the  power  of  administering 
the  public  affairs. 

The  outcome  of  the  campaign  was  the  triumph, 
more  overwhelming  than  any  one  had  dared  predict, 
of  the  Democrats.  General  Scott  carried  but  four 
states — Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Kentucky,  and  Ten 
nessee — and  obtained  but  forty-two  electoral  votes ; 
while  the  two  branches  of  Congress  remained  solidly 
Democratic.  But  when  the  final  show  of  strength 
took  place  the  two  most  eminent  founders  and  leaders 
of  the  defeated  party  were  no  more.  When  the  con 
vention  at  Baltimore  was  balloting  upon  candidates 
Clay  lay  dying  from  consumption  in  a  hotel  in 
Washington,  although  he  lingered  until  June  29th. 
The  death  of  Webster  occurred  at  Marshfield  on 
October  24th. 

The  physical  decline  which  culminated  in  Webster's 
death  had  set  in  with  some  rapidity  soon  after  the 
assumption  for  the  second  time  of  the  portfolio  of 
State.  It  was  attributable  in  part  to  the  prolonged 
and  severe  exertions  incident  to  an  active  public 
career,  in  part  to  debilitating  annual  attacks  of  hay- 
fever,  but,  at  the  last,  mainly  to  an  incurable  affliction 
diagnosed  as  cirrhosis  of  the  liver.  When,  on  the 
9th  of  July,  he  reached  Boston  on  his  way  to  his 
Marshfield  home  Webster  had  been  tendered  a  recep 
tion,  essentially  non-partisan  in  character,  which  was 
declared  by  witnesses  of  both  events  to  have  been 
more  imposing  than  that  tendered  General  Lafayette 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       409 

in  1825,  and  at  Marshfield  a  few  days  later  his  coining 
was  honored  by  a  general  outpouring  of  the  people 
from  many  miles  around.  Upon  both  occasions  he 
spoke  at  length  upon  lines  appropriate  to  the  situa 
tion,  and  these  were  the  last  public  addresses  which 
he  was  destined  to  be  able  to  make.1  On  July  26th  he 
communicated  to  the  President  his  desire  to  retire  from 
the  cabinet.  But  Fillmore  insisted  that  he  retain  his 
post,  returning  to  Washington  only  when  he  should 
have  recovered  somewhat  in  health.  Early  in  August 
he  gained  sufficient  strength  to  enable  him  to  make 
the  journey,  and  he  remained  at  the  capital  until 
September  8th.  To  his  reiterated  offers  to  resign  the 
President  replied  that  the  office  could  not  at  the  mo 
ment  be  filled  satisfactorily ;  and  he  returned  to 
Marshfield  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  give 
attention  from  that  place  to  such  public  matters  as 
could  not  be  postponed. 

On  September  20th  he  went  to  Boston  for  the  last 
time  to  consult  his  physician,  Dr.  Jeffries,  and  it  is 
recorded  that  when,  in  the  course  of  the  visit,  he  con 
trived  to  appear  for  a  few  moments  at  a  social  gather 
ing  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  all  who  saw  him  were 
startled  by  the  look  of  suffering  in  his  face  and  by  his 
general  appearance  of  feebleness.  At  Marshfield  he 
continued  for  a  time  to  entertain  visitors,  write  letters 
to  his  friends,  and  make  occasional  excursions  over  his 
estate;  but  as  the  October  days  went  by  he  grew 
steadily  weaker,  until  by  the  middle  of  the  month  he 
was  no  longer  able  to  leave  the  house.  On  the  15th 
he  revised  and  corrected  an  inscription  to  be  placed 
on  his  monument,  dictated  a  few  days  before  ;  on  the 
18th  he  undertook  the  preparation  of  his  will  ;  and  on 
1  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  528-542, 


410  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

this  same  day  the  last  letter  written  by  his  own  hand 
was  addressed  to  the  President.  On  the  21st  he  was 
told  that  the  state  elections  in  Pennsylvania  and  else 
where  had  resulted  in  overwhelming  victories  for  the 
Democrats.  "Yes,"  was  his  response;  "that  party 
will  sweep  the  country  ;  the  Whig  candidate  will 
obtain  but  one  or  two  states  ;  and  it  is  well ;  as  a 
national  party  the  Whigs  are  ended."  When  it 
was  mentioned  to  him  that  a  friend  in  Boston  had 
expressed  the  hope  that  he  should  remain  firm  in 
his  opposition  to  the  action  of  the  Baltimore  con 
vention  he  requested,  half-huniorously,  that  the  gentle 
man  be  written  to  and  told  to  "'look  over  toward 
Oharlestown  and  see  if  Bunker  Hill  monument  is  still 
standing  !  "  On  the  22d  he  gave  instructions  for  the 
farm  work  of  the  day  and  made  provision  for  the  pay  - 
ing  of  the  laborers  what  was  due  them.  On  Saturday, 
the  23d,  his  feebleness  had  so  manifestly  increased 
that  he  began  directing,  with  remarkable  fortitude 
and  deliberation,  the  making  of  preparations  for  the 
end.  To  his  physician  he  communicated  his  convic 
tion  that  he  should  die  during  the  coming  night,  and 
the  physician  could  but  express  his  concurrence  in  the 
prediction.  He  affixed  his  signature  to  the  carefully 
drawn  will,1  spoke  feelingly  to  his  family  and  servants 
regarding  his  wishes  for  them,  made  solemn  affirmation 
of  his  religious  convictions,  and  expressed  only  the  wish 
that  he  might  be  conscious  of  the  act  of  dying.  Some 
time  after  midnight  he  roused  from  a  restless  slumber 
long  enough  to  utter  very  clearly  the  words,  destined 
to  become  memorable,  "  I  still  live, "and  then  relapsed 
into  unconsciousness.  At  twenty-three  minutes  before 

'The  will  ia  printed  in  "Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  XIII, 
pp.  586-591. 


ELECTION  OF  1852:  LAST  PHASES       411 

three  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  October  24th,  the  labored 
breathing  ceased,  and  the  end  caine. 

For  the  news  of  the  bereavement  the  public  was  not 
wholly  unprepared,  yet  the  intelligence  came  as  a 
shock,  and  by  it  a  hush  was  spread  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  instant  feeling 
was  that  a  pillar  of  the  state  had  fallen,  and  from  men 
of  every 'class  of  society,  of  every  political  affiliation, 
and  of  every  sectional  attachment,  rose  tributes  of 
praise  for  the  citizen,  the  statesman,  and  the  patriot. 
President  Fillmore  sent  to  Marshfield  a  representative 
of  the  State  Department  to  propose  and  execute  ar 
rangements  for  a  public  funeral.  "I  wish  to  be 
buried,"  Webster,  however,  had  affirmed  in  his  will, 
u  without  the  least  show  or  ostentation,  but  in  a 
manner  respectful  to  my  neighbors,  whose  kindness 
has  contributed  so  much  to  the  happiness  of  me  and 
mine"  ;  and  when  this  request  became  known,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  family  did  the  right  thing  in  declining 
to  permit  a  public  funeral  to  be  held. 

At  noon  on  Friday,  October  29th,  the  people  of  the 
community  were  admitted  to  the  Webster  home,  and 
every  one  who  desired  to  do  so  was  allowed  to  view 
the  remains  of  the  fallen  chieftain,  reposing  in  a  coffin 
placed  upon  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  mansion-house. 
It  is  said  that  not  fewer  than  ten  thousand  men  and 
women  were  present.  After  simple  religious  services 
had  been  held  in  the  house,  in  the  presence  of  the  rela 
tives  and  closer  friends,  the  coffin  was  raised  on  the 
shoulders  of  six  stalwart  farmer  neighbors  who  had 
asked  the  privilege  and  carried,  followed  by  the  male 
members  of  the  family,  the  intimate  friends,  and  the 
faithful  servants,  as  chief  mourners,  to  the  ancient  bury- 
ing-place  of  Marshfield,  where  all  that  was  mortal  of  the 


412  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

great  niaii  was  committed  to  earth.  "  Daniel  Web 
ster,"  a  plaiu -garbed  spectator  is  reported  to  have 
exclaimed  as  he  turned  from  the  new-made  grave, 
"the  world,  without  you,  will  seem  lonesome."  By 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  people,  of  every  rank  and 
profession,  and  in  every  section  of  the  laud,  the  feeling 
was  shared  ;  and  even  in  European  countries  it  was 
recognized  that  there  had  disappeared  a  figure  which, 
in  a  generation  notable  for  its  statesmen,  orators,  and 
diplomats,  was  worthy  of  comparison  with  the  most 
masterful. 

Daniel  Webster  was  not  a  paragon  of  virtues.  He 
had  faults,  some  of  which  were  not  only  serious  but  in 
excusable.  His  appetites  were  not  always  under  con 
trol.  Although  never  guilty  of  peculation,  he  was 
habitually  careless  in  money  matters,  and  he  was 
ready  to  accept  the  largesses  of  his  friends  when  it 
would  seem  that  every  consideration  of  personal  dig 
nity  would  have  interposed  to  prevent  his  doing  so. 
He  was  inordinately  fond  of  good  living  and  prone  to 
generosity  which  bordered  closely  upon  prodigality. 
By  his  failure  to  keep  under  restraint  the  ambition 
which  burned  within  him  to  attain  the  presidency  he 
permitted  his  later  years  to  be  made  feverish  and  un 
happy  and  his  usefulness  to  his  generation  to  be  im 
paired.  *  He  did  not  desire  the  presidency  more  ardently 
than  did  Clay.  The  great  Kentuckian  had  the  trying 
experience  of  being  chosen  to  bear  his  party's  banner 
twice  when  there  was  but  a  moderate  chance  of  success, 
only  to  be  rejected  as  a  candidate  in  1840  and  in  1848 
when,  as  events  proved,  expectation  of  victory  was 
well  founded.  Furthermore,  Clay  was  loved  by  the 
mass  of  the  people  as  Webster  never  was,  and  he  had 
more  right  than  had  his  compeer  to  expect  of  them  an 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       413 

election  to  the  highest  office  in  the  land.  Yet  of  the 
two  men,  Clay  accepted  his  ill-fortune  much  the  more 
patiently.  The  adulation  which  was  heaped  upon 
Webster  by  friends  and  admirers  was  unquestionably 
sufficient  to  turn  the  head  of  an  ordinary  person.  But 
Webster  was  not  an  ordinary  person,  and  it  must  be 
reckoned  against  him  that  in  his  later  years  he  allowed 
himself  to  become  at  times  dictatorial  and  overbearing 
and  to  be  guilty  of  pettishuess  and  ingratitude.  His 
moral  vigor,  in  the  trenchant  estimate  of  Mr.  Lodge, 
was  not  equal  to  his  intellectual  force  ;  and  while,  as 
this  biographer  goes  on  to  point  out,  it  is  not  often 
that  both  moral  and  intellectual  powers  of  a  superla 
tive  order  are  combined  in  a  single  individual,  had  they 
been  so  combined  in  Webster  the  product  must  have 
been  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  of  characters. 

The  physical  endowments  of  the  man  were  much 
above  the  average.  When  in  his  prime  he  possessed  a 
robustness  of  which  his  childhood  gave  small  promise  ; 
and  although  his  last  ten  years  were  shadowed  by  dis 
ease,  his  bodily  vigor  was  such  as  to  enable  him  to 
attain  the  Scriptural  age  of  threescore  and  ten.  In  his 
social  relationships,  as  in  his  professional  and  public 
life,  an  asset  of  very  distinct  value  was  the  majesty  of 
his  personal  presence.  He  was  five  feet  ten  inches  in 
height ;  he  had  an  enormous  chest  measurement ;  his 
head,  which  was  one  of  the  largest  ever  borne  on 
human  shoulders,  was  nobly  formed  ;  his  brow  was 
high  and  broad  ;  his  hair  was  straight  and  black  ;  his 
complexion  was  swarthy  ;  and  his  eyes  were  large, 
deep-set,  and  dark,  in  moments  of  earnestness  flashing 
with  an  intensity  that  was  fairly  startling.  His 
visage,  although  usually  kindly,  was  upon  occasion 
stern,  with  sometimes  a  touch  of  melancholy.  In 


414  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

every  look  and  gesture  there  was  the  element  of  com 
mand.  When  he  walked  down  State  Street  men  forgot 
business  in  gazing  upon  him  ;  when  he  but  entered  a 
room  voices  were  hushed  as  if  the  newcomer  had  been 
a  god. 

Physical  impressiveness  was  matched  by  excellent 
qualities  of  character  and  by  extraordinary  powers  oi 
intellect.  Indeed,  it  was  chiefly  these,  rather  than  the 
stature  and  Jove-like  brow,  that  lent  to  the  presence  oi 
the  man  its  attractive,  even  awe-inspiring,  aspect. 
Webster  was  the  soul  of  hospitality,  and  his  various 
places  of  residence,  whether  the  humble  home  in  Ports 
mouth,  the  capacious  house  in  Summer  Street,  or  the 
rambling,  but  splendid,  dwelling  at  Marshfield,  were 
ever  shrines  of  neighborliness  and  good  fellowship. 
From  childhood  he  was  a  voracious  reader,  and  his 
ability  to  remember  what  he  read  was  equaled  only  by 
his  power  of  assimilating  it.  Fluent  of  speech  and 
widely  informed,  he  was  a  splendid  conversationalist ; 
yet  he  commonly  preferred  to  listen  rather  than  to 
talk.  Without  being  himself  a  humorist,  he  had  a 
well -developed  sense  of  humor.  His  recorded  speeches, 
which  are  peculiarly  stately  and  serious,  furnish  vir 
tually  no  evidence  of  this,  but  the  lack  is  supplied  by 
his  more  intimate  correspondence  and  by  the  testimony 
of  his  associates  in  daily  life.  He  liked  a  joke,  and 
upon  occasion  enjoyed  sheer  boisterousuess  and  fun. 
He  was  not  inapt  at  playful  allusion,  unexpected  turns 
of  expression,  and  mock  heroics.  But  he  scorned 
humor  as  a  mere  means  of  keeping  his  auditors  inter 
ested,  and  he  seldom  or  never  indulged  in  it  in  his 
public  addresses,  or  upon  any  occasion  with  premedi 
tation. 

Webster  was  an  ardent  lover  of  Nature,  especially  in 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       415 

lier  larger  and  grander  aspects.  A  boyhood  spent 
among  the  Xew  Hampshire  hills  developed  in  him  a 
sense  of  intimacy  with  trees  and  streams  and  wild  ani 
mals  which  was  never  lost.  He  was  fond  of  hunting 
and  fishing  and  of  every  sort  of  outdoor  amusement, 
and,  wearied  by  the  routine  of  legal  practice  or  of 
statecraft,  he  not  infrequently  turned  with  boyish  de 
light  to  the  occupations  of  the  farm.  He  rejoiced  in 
the  sunrise  and,  when  at  Marshfield,  made  it  a  rule 
never  to  miss  seeing  it.  Above  all  other  natural 
things,  he  loved  the  sea.  Its  vastness  and  its  imper 
turbability  appealed  to  his  sense  of  grandeur,  and  he 
was  not  content  until  he  had  made  for  himself  a  home 
where  he  could  look  out  across  the  Atlantic's  broad 
expanse,  ever  varying  in  hue  and  mood,  yet  ever  the 
same.  Among  animals  he  liked  best  the  massive, 
slow-moving  ox.  Shortly  before  his  death,  after  it 
had  ceased  to  be  possible  for  him  to  go  out-of-doors, 
he  had  his  finest  oxen  driven  to  the  lawn  about  his 
house  in  order  that  he  might  have  the  satisfaction  of 
gazing  upon  their  glossy  coats  and  wondering  eyes.  It 
has  been  said,  indeed,  that  more  than  his  hospitality 
his  herds  of  fine  oxen  kept  him  poor.1 

Love  of  country  became  in  Webster  a  veritable  pas 
sion.  His  speeches  glow  with  patriotic  fervor,  and  the 
patriotism  which  is  displayed  in  them  was  no  mere 
patriotism  of  words.  When  he  was  first  elected  to  Con 
gress  he  had  personally,  perhaps,  more  to  gain  than  to 
lose  by  entering  the  public  service.  He  was  then  but 
a  young,  comparatively  unknown,  and  far  from  afflu 
ent  lawyer.  When,  however,  in  1822  he  was  returned 
to  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  Boston  dis 
trict  he  was  fast  becoming  the  most  highly  reputed  and 
1McCall,  "Daniel  Webster,"  p.  121. 


7:    _ 
-- 


:    -       > 


-n  ki 

..      -      " 


n2  be  i«ei 


-•        -i-      ; 


i 


II 


!!?**•    Mm"*JSafciC 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES 

of  UocDln  vas  probably  no: 

:--" 
: 


of  TjTLPfeiy  UBteueCt3Ral    StFddfUL.       It 

Websters  intelfcrtaality  «s  fitfal.     He 
tn»es"onedge,"aBdflaBeoflii 
eoiLjiMMMlaMiiiihii  BIII  «rf me 


aeter.    la  the  make 
nonnoed 


iwt  is  OMwbicb  be  was  tbe  fizat  to  reeogBi»v 

having  &Be»  uto  a  ^cwgk  of  Iftkargr 

was    unable   to   extrieate   kmself. 

po^r-; :  >  T ;  ^d.  not  in  an 

day  and  year  after  year  at  h. 

a  capacity  for  p: 




oFall  of  Ms  forenac 
to  Hayne  and  the 
precccted  by 

Xo  man  DOT 
of  tfce  fii^r 

results    nixter   tie 
memory,  qnickoess  and  dept 


::•:-       —          '.      -^  '      .:  " 
thtec  are  tbe  qirali  ties  wfcicfc 


7.  -   :..:<>:  '  :-      v  '    ird  :rr 
achievemearts  w«r 


of  e^aeDee  of 

ass:^-^:  h:n: 

no  difference  of  oonrioa.     He 


-^ "*     ~- *- 

'  418  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tous  iu  expression  or  as  splendidly  imaginative  as  was 
Choate,  or  as  finished  in  style  as  was  Everett.  But  no 
other  American  has  exhibited  so  perfect  a  combination 
of  all  the  varied  elements  that  combine  to  produce 
true  oratorical  power.  Aud  among  orators  of  other 
portions  of  the  English-speaking  world  none  rival  him 
closely  save  Burke,  Fox,  and  Sheridan.  The  qualities 
of  his  oratory  which  are  most  conspicuous* a?e~  those i'bf 
intellectuality,  stateliness^Jre'edoni  from  invective,  and 
patriotic  spirit.  Iif  speeches  which  are  so"nearly  ex- 
tempbi'angous  as  were  most  of  those  which  he  delivered 
there  will  be  included  inevitably  a  certain  amount  of 
that  which  is  trivial  and  irrelevant.  The  proportion 
of  this  sort  of  thing  in  Webster's  addresses  is,  however, 
small.  Men  who  heard  them  were  impressed  with  the 
solidityjpf  their  textuxg^with  the  range  and  depth  of 
the  information  upon  which  their  alTHioTlJrew  iiTtlleir 
composition.  And  a  study  of  them  nowadays  serves 
but  to  confirm  this  impression.  Their  glitter  was  that 
of  sharply  polished  fact,  not  that  of  ilashy  nothingness. 

Webster  was  not  at  his  best  in  the  give-and-take  of 
every-day  debate.  He  was  not  notably  adept  at  rapier- 
like  thrusts.  He  rose  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability 
only  upon  some  solemn  occasion  for  which  he  made 
deliberate  preparation,  such  as  the  Plymouth  com 
memoration  or  the  Bunker  Hill  celebrations ;  or 
when,  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  defending  some  great 
principle  or  measure  upon  which  he  felt  deeply,  lie 
.  mustered  the  full  quota  of  his  physical  and  intellectual 
powers  and  hurled  himself  into  the  combat.  '  His  best 
speeches  are,  therefore,  with  few  exceptions,  his 
lengthiest.  Their  superiority  arises  in  part  from  their 
very  massiveness  and  couclusiveness. 

By  reason  of  the  circumstance  that  his  name  is  asso- 


ELECTION  OF  1852 :  LAST  PHASES       419 

elated  with  the  initiation  of  few  legislative  or  other 
public  measures,  it  sometimes  has  been  assumed  that 
Webster's  statesmanship  was  not  of  a  constructive 
character.  It  certainly  is  true  that  Webster  looms  less 
prominently  as  an  author  of  bills  and  of  governmental 
policies  than  do  several  of  his  contemporaries,  notably 
Clay,  Calhoun,  Jackson,  and  even  Benton  and  Van 
Bureu.  There  are,  however,  two  facts  to  be  observed. 
In  the  first  place,  not  only  did  Webster,  during  his 
tenure  of  the  secretaryship  of  state,  display  the  most 
splendid  qualities  of  originalityaud  construct!  veness  ; 
during  his  prolonged  service  in  tEe  two  branches  of 
Congress  he  became  the  Author  of  a  large  number  of 
bills  ofimportance  and  participated  in  the  framing  of 
many  others.  It  happened  that  many  of  the  measures 
with  which  he  was  closely  identined.  dealt  with  ques 
tions,  especially  judicial  and 
ovefsb^owed_by__other  and  more  largely  political 
issues  ;  and  it  happened  that  many  of  them  failed  of 
adoption.  But  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  a 
1  arge  proportion  of  these  measures  were,  in  their  es 
sentials,  adopted  after  the  lapse  of  time,  and  that  the 
state^Simciiship  which  underlay  them  received  complete 
vindication. 

•frrthlT  second  place,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
statesmanship  of  Webster  was  constructive  injhe  most 
fundamental  of  alTpossible  senses,  in  that  it  had  for  its 
aim  nothing  less~than~  the~lnoiilding  of  public  senti- 
rnent  "couceruing  the  Constitution  to  accord  with  the 
chan^in^Tieeds  ofthe  country ._  The  Constitution  was, 
and  TS7"STIsceptible  of  the  most  varied  interpretation 
and  development.  Men  in  Webster's  day  differed  no 
more  widely  in  their  understanding  of  the  instrument 
than  had  their  fathers.  But  a  concurrence  of  social 


420  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

aud  economic  circumstances  rendered  their  differences 
of  view  far  more  dangerous  than  had  been  those  of 
earlier  times,  and  it  became  Webster's  task  to  proclaim 
to  the  new  generation,  in  season  and  out,  those  funda 
mentals  of  constitutional  interpretation  by  whose  ac 
ceptance  alone  the  perpetuity  of  the  nation  could  be 
assured.  Not  all  men  were  convinced,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  the  country  was  deluged  with  the  blood 
of  a  fraternal  war.  So  long,  however,  as  the  gener 
ation  of  men  to  which  Webster  belonged  continued  in 
control  of  the  councils  of  the  nation,  the  conflagration 
was  averted.  To  the  very  end  the  position  maintained 
by  that  generation — the  generation  of  Clay,  Adams, 
Jackson,  Calhoun,  Van  Bureu,  Benton,  Fillmore,  Cor- 
win,  Berrieu,  and  Mauguni — upon  the  momentous 
issues  of  slavery  and  disunion  was  of  a  character  es 
sentially  conservative ;  and  by  no  one  was  the  con 
servative  attitude  cultivated  more  assiduously  than  by 
Webster  himself.  It  was  only  with  the  rise  to  domi 
nance  of  the  generation  of  Lincoln,  Seward,  Chase, 
Simmer,  Wade,  Wilson,  Toombs,  Davis,  Yancey,  and 
Stephens  that  the  spirit  of  radicalism  came  gradually 
into  the  ascendant ;  and  this  was  the  generation  which 
waged  the  war.  When  the  contest  came,  it  was  the 
creed  of  the  Union  as  formulated  most  lucidly  by 
Webster  that  supplied  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
issue  was  prosecuted  to  the  bitter  end.  It  is  to  the 
essentials  of  that  creed  that  men  of  all  sections  and 
parties  to-day  pledge  their  fidelity,  under  the  cegis  of 
a  chastened  and  hopeful  nationality. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

In  the  following  list  the  reader  will  find  mention  of  the  principal 
materials  for  the  study  of  the  life  of  Webster  in  both  its  private  and 
its  public  aspects  : 

Writings  of  Webster.  The  speeches  and  state  papers  of  Webster  have 
been  published,  singly  and  in  collections,  in  numerous  editions. 
The  earliest  collection  of  speeches  was  published  at  Boston  in 
1830  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Speeches  and  Forensic  Arguments  by 
Daniel  Webster."  Of  this  volume  there  were  several  reprints. 
In  1835  a  second  volume,  containing  speeches  not  in  the  first  one, 
and  bearing  the  same  title,  was  published.  In  1843  a  ^m'd  vol 
ume  was  added  to  the  series,  containing  the  more  important 
speeches  delivered  between  1835  aud  1841.  In  l848  the  "  ^P^°' 
matic  and  Official  Papers  of  Daniel  Webster  "  was  published,  in 
one  volume,  by  the  house  of  Harper  at  New  York.  In  1851  an 
edition  of  the  "  Works  of  Webster,"  in  six  volumes,  and  edited  by 
Edward  Everett,  was  published  at  Boston  by  Little,  Brown  and 
Company.  As  early  as  1857  this  collection  had  reached  its  tenth 
edition.  It  had  the  benefit  of  a  certain  amount  of  supervision  by 
Webster  himself,  but  it  was,  of  necessity,  very  incomplete.  In 
1903  a  new,  full,  and  substantially  definitive  edition  was  published 
under  the  title  "  The  Writings  and  Speeches  of  Daniel  Webster  " 
(Boston,  Little,  Brown  and  Company),  in  eighteen  volumes, 
edited  by  J.  W.  Mclntire,  and  designated  as  the  "  National  Edi 
tion."  Included  in  this  edition  is  a  vast  quantity  of  materials 
gathered  from  newspapers,  pamphlets,  public  documents,  and 
correspondence  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Historical  Society  and  in  numerous  other  places.  Other  collec 
tions  of  prime  importance  are  Fletcher  Webster  (ed.),  "  The  Pri 
vate  Correspondence  of  Daniel  Webster,"  2  vols.  (Boston,  1857), 
and  Claude  H.  Van  Tyne  (ed.),  "  The  Letters  of  Daniel  Web 
ster"  (New  York,  1902).  With  a  few  minor  corrections,  the 
"  Private  Correspondence  "  is  reprinted  as  Vols.  xvii-xvm  of 
the  "  Writings  and  Speeches."  The  first  of  the  two  volumes  con 
tains  the  Webster  "  Autobiography,"  begun  in  1830,  but  discon 
tinued  with  the  events  of  1816.  Almost  all  of  Webster's  more 
important  speeches  were  printed  for  contemporary  circulation  in 
pamphlet  form,  and  collections  of  these  brochures  are  preserved 
in  many  of  the  larger  libraries  of  the  country. 


422  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Writings  of  Other  Public  Men.  Paul  L.  Ford  (ed.),  "  The  Writings 
of  Thomas  Jefferson,"  10  vols.  (New  York,  1892-1899);  Gaillard 
Hunt  (ed.),  "  The  Writings  of  James  Madison,"  9  vols.  (New 
York,  1900-1910);  Stanislaus  M.  Hamilton  (ed.),  "  The  Writ 
ings  of  James  Monroe,"  7  vols.  (New  York,  1898-1903);  Charles 

F.  Adams  (ed.),  "  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  comprising 
portions  of  his  Diary  from  1795  to  1848,"  12  vols.  (Boston,  1874- 
1877) ;    Worthington    C.    Ford    (ed.),    "  The    Writings   of  John 

Quincy    Adams,"    Vol.    I    published    (New    York,    1913 )  ; 

Thomas  H.  Benton,  "  Thirty  Years'  View  ;  or,  a  History  of  the 
Working  of  the  American  Government,"  1820-1850,  2  vols.  (New 
York,   1854) ;  William  Stickney   (ed.),   Amos  Kendall's  "  Auto 
biography  "  (Boston,    1872)  ;  Calvin  Colton  (ed.),  "  Life,  Corre 
spondence,  and  Speeches  of  Henry  Clay,"  6  vols.  (New  York, 
1857);  Richard  K.  Cralle  (ed.),  "  The  Works  of  John  Caldwell 
Calhoun,"  6  vols.  (New  York,  1853-1855)  ;  J.  Franklin  Jameson 
(ed.),  ««  Correspondence   of  John  C.  Calhoun,"  in  Annual  Report 
of  American  Historical   Association  for  1899,  Vol.  II  (Washing 
ton,  1900) ;  Edward  Everett,  "  Orations  and  Speeches  on  Various 
Occasions,"  4  vols.  (Boston,  1853-1868);  Samuel  G.  Brown  (ed.). 
"The  Works   of   Rufus    Choate,"  2  vols.   (Boston,   1862);   and 

G.  E.  Baker  (ed.),  "  The  Works  of  William  H.  Seward,"  5  vols. 
(New  York,  1853-1884). 

Newspapers.  Boston  Atlas,  Daily  Advertiser  ;  New  York  Tribune •, 
Times,  Courier  and  Inquirer,  Evening  Post,  Herald;  Charleston 
Mercury;  Richmond  Enquirer;  National  Intelligencer ;  Niles* 
Weekly  Register  (later  National  Register'). 

Eulogies.  Among  the  more  important  of  the  vast  number  of  printed 
contemporary  sermons  and  other  discourses  on  the  career  and  char 
acter  of  Webster,  the  following  may  be  mentioned;  Henry  A. 
Boardman,  "  A  Discourse  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Daniel 
Webster"  (Philadelphia,  1852);  Theodore  Parker,  "A  Discourse 
Occasioned  by  the  Death  of  Daniel  Webster,"  preached  at  the 
Melodeon  on  Sunday,  October  31,  1852  (Boston,  1853);  T.  T. 
Davis,  "  Eulogy  delivered  in  Syracuse,  N.  \.,  November  13, 
1852  "  (Syracuse,  1852) ;  R.  D.  Hitchcock,  "  A  Eulogy  on  Daniel 
Webster,  delivered  before  the  Students  of  Bowdoin  College,  No 
vember  12,  1852"  (Brunswick,  1852);  Timothy  Walker,  "  Ora 
tion  on  the  Life  and  Public  Services  of  Daniel  Webster,  delivered 
before  the  Bar  of  Cincinnati,  November  22,  1852"  (Cincinnati, 
1852) ;  W.  P.  Lunt,  "  A  Discourse  delivered  in  (Quincy,  Mass.,  on 
Thanksgiving  Day,  November  25,  1852,  commemorative  of  Dan 
iel  Webster"  (Boston,  1852)  ;  Alphonso  Taft,  "An  Oration  on 
the  Life  and  Public  Services  of  Daniel  Webster,  delivered  De 
cember  12,  1852"  (Cincinnati,  1852);  "  Obituary  Addresses  on 
the  Occasion  of  the  Death  of  Daniel  Webster,  delivered  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  December  14-15,  1852  " 
(Washington,  1853) ;  E.  D.  Sanborn,  "  A  Eulogy  on  Daniel  Web- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  423 

ster,  delivered  before  the  Students  of  Phillips  Academy,  December 
29,  1852  "  (Hanover,  1853) ;  H.  W.  Allen,  "  Eulogy  on  the  Char 
acter  and  Services  of  the  Late  Daniel  Webster,  pronounced  at  the 
request  of  the  Select  and  Common  Councils  of  Philadelphia,  Jan 
uary  18,  1853"  (Philadelphia,  1853);  Hiram  Ketchum,  "A 
Eulogy  on  the  Late  Daniel  Webster  before  the  Faculty  and  Stu 
dents  of  Yale  College,  January  18,  1853  "  (New  Haven,  1853)  ; 
and  Rufus  Choate,  "  A  Discourse  before  the  Faculty,  Students, 
and  Alumni  of  Dartmouth  College,  July  27,  1853 "  (Boston, 
1853).  See  Charles  H.  Hart,  "  Bibliographia  Websteriana.  A 
List  of  the  Publications  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Daniel  Web 
ster"  (Philadelphia,  1853). 

Biographies,  The  standard  biography,  written  in  part  from  first-hand 
knowledge,  but  inclined  to  be  eulogistic,  is  George  Ticknor  Cur 
tis,  "  Life  of  Daniel  Webster,"  2  vols.  (New  York,  1870).  Mr. 
Curtis  was  one  of  Webster's  literary  executors.  The  best  brief 
biography,  although  open  to  criticism  in  some  of  its  judgments,  is 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  "  Daniel  Webster  "  (Boston,  1883).  Other  ^ 
more  recent  biographies  or  biographical  sketches  are  :  John  Bach  t 
McMaster,  "  Daniel  Webster "  (New  York,  1902),  in  part  re-  • 
printed  from  the  Century  Magazine  ;  Norman  Hapgood,  "  Dan 
iel  Webster"  (Boston,  1899),  in  the  "Beacon  Biographies"; 
Samuel  W.  McCall,  "  Daniel  Webster  "  (Boston,  1902),  the  Web 
ster  Centennial  Oration  delivered  at  the  Dartmouth  commemora 
tive  celebration  of  September,  1901 ;  and  Sidney  George  Fisher, 
"The  True  Daniel  Webster"  (Philadelphia,  1911).  Among 
older  books  of  a  biographical  nature  may  be  mentioned  Charles 
W.  March,  "  Reminiscences  of  Congress  "  (New  York,  1850)  ; 
B.  F.  Tefft,  "  Daniel  Webster,  His  Life  and  Character  "  (Roches 
ter,  1852)  ;  Joseph  Banvard,  "  The  American  Statesman  ;  or,  the 
Life  and  Character  of  Daniel  Webster  "  (Boston,  1853);  Charles 
Lanman,  "  The  Private  Life  of  Daniel  Webster  "  (New  York, 
1858)  ;  and  Peter  Harvey,  "  Reminiscences  and  Anecdotes  of 
Daniel  Webster"  (Boston,  1877).  Finally  should  be  mentioned 
Edward  Everett's  "  Biographical  Memoir  of  Daniel  Webster," 
printed  in  the  "  Works  of  Webster,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  1-160,  and  in 
the  "  Writings  and  Speeches,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  1-175. 

General  Essays,  Speeches,  and  Sketches.  Joel  Parker,  "  Daniel  Web 
ster  as  a  Jurist"  (Cambridge,  1853);  Henry  Cabot  Lodge, 
"  Daniel  Webster,"  in  "  Studies  in  History  "  (Boston,  1884),  and 
"  Daniel  Webster,"  in  "  A  Fighting  Frigate  and  Other  Essays  and  ^ 
Addresses"  (New  York,  1902) ;  Everett  P.  Wheeler,  "  The  Con 
stitutional  Law  of  the  United  States  as  Moulded  by  Daniel  Web 
ster  "  (New  York,  1904),  and  "  Daniel  Webster,  the  Expounder  - 
of  the  Constitution  "  (New  York,  1905)  ;  Albert  E.  Pillsbury, 
"Daniel  Webster  the  Orator"  (Boston,  1903);  Elizabeth  P. 
Gould,  •«  John  Adams  and  Daniel  Webster  as  Schoolmasters  " 
(Boston,  1903) ;  E.  P.  Whipple,  "  Great  Speeches  and  Orations 


424  BIBLIOGEAPHY 

of  Daniel  Webster,  with  an  Essay  on  Webster  as  a  Master  of 
English  Style  "  (Boston,  1879)  ;  Josiah  H.  Benton,  "  A  Notable 
Libel  Case ;  the  Criminal  Prosecution  of  Theodore  Lyman,  Jr., 
by  Daniel  Webster  in  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massachu 
setts,"  November  Term,  1828  (Boston,  1904);  Eugene  Pivary, 
"Webster  and  Kossuth  "  (Philadelphia,  1909);  and  William  C. 
Wilkinson,  "  Daniel  Webster,  a  Vindication ;  with  other  Histor 
ical  Essays"  (New  York  and  London,  1911).  Of  addresses  upon 
commemorative  occasions,  in  addition  to  the  eulogies  heretofore 
mentioned,  there  are  many.  The  more  important  are  :  Edward 
Everett,  "  An  Oration  on  the  Occasion  of  the  Dedication  of  the 
Statue  of  Daniel  Webster  in  Boston,  September  17,  1859  "  (Bos 
ton,  1859)  ;  "  Proceedings  at  the  Inauguration  of  the  Statue  of 
Daniel  Webster,  erected  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  July  4, 
1876"  (New  York,  1876)  ;  T.  H.  Cummings  (ed.),  "The  Web 
ster  Centennial.  Proceedings  of  the  \Vebster  Historical  Society 
at  Marshfield,  Mass.,  October  12,  1882"  (Boston,  1883);  and 
Ernest  M.  Hopkins  (ed.),  "  The  Proceedings  of  the  Webster  Cen 
tennial.  The  Commemoration  by  Dartmouth  College  of  the 
Services  of  Daniel  Webster  to  the  College  and  the  State  "  (Han 
over,  1902). 

General  Histories  of  the  Period  and  Monographs.  James  Schouler, 
"  History  of  the  United  States,"  7  vols.  (New  York,  1880-1913) ; 
John  Bach  McMaster,  "  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States,"  8  vols.  (New  York,  1883-1913)  ;  Albert  B.  Hart  (ed.), 
"  The  American  Nation  "  (New  York,  1904-1907),  Vols.  XII- 
XVIII ;  Hermann  Von  Hoist,  "  Constitutional  and  Political  His 
tory  of  the  United  States,"  8  vols.  (Chicago,  1885-1892) ;  James 
Ford  Rhodes,  "  History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compro 
mise  of  1850,"  7  vols.  (New  York,  1893-1906)  ;  Henry  Wilson, 
"  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  America,"  3  vols. 
(Boston,  1872-1877);  Edward  Stanwoocl,  "  History  of  the  Presi 
dency  "  (Boston,  1898),  and  "  History  of  American  Tariff  Con 
troversies,"  2  vols.  (Boston,  1903) ;  Charles  McCarthy,  "  The 
Antimasonic  Party  "  (American  Historical  Association  Report, 
1902,  Vol.  I)  ;  Jesse  S.  Reeves,  "  American  Diplomacy  under 
Tyler  and  Polk"  (Baltimore,  1907). 

Biographies  of  Public  Men.  Henry  Adams,  "  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin  " 
(Philadelphia,  1879);  Sidney  H.  Gay,  "  James  Madison  "  (Bos 
ton,  1884);  Gaillard  Hunt,  "Life  of  James  Madison"  (New- 
York,  1902)  ;  Henry  C.  Lodge,  "  Life  and  Letters  of  George 
Cabot"  (Boston,  1878);  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  "James  Monroe" 
(Boston,  1883);  William  G.  Sumner,  "  Andrew  Jackson"  (rev. 
ed.,  Boston,  1899)  ;  John  S.  Bassett,  "  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson," 
2  vols.  (New  York,  1911);  John  T.  Morse,  "John  Quincy 
Adams  "  (Boston,  1882)  ;  Edward  M.  Shepard,  "  Martin  Van 
Buren"  (Boston,  1888)  ;  Lyon  G.  Tyler,  "  Letters  and  Times  of 
the  Tylers,"  3  vols.  (Richmond,  1884-1896)  ;  Carl  Schurz, 


BIBLIOGEAPHY  425 

"  Henry  Clay,"  2  vols.  (Boston,  1887);  Thomas  H.Clay,  "  Henry 
Clay"  (Philadelphia,  1910);  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin,  "Lewis 
Cass  "  (Boston,  1891)  ;  Hermann  Von  Hoist,  "  John  C.  Calhoun  " 
(Boston,  1882);  Gaillard  Hunt,  "  John  C.  Calhoun  "  (Philadel 
phia,  1908);  Theodore  Roosevelt,  "Thomas  H.  Benton  "  (Bos 
ton,  1888)  ;  Joseph  M.  Rogers,  "  Thomas  H.  Benton"  (Philadel 
phia,  1905)  ;  Frederic  Bancroft,  "  Life  of  William  H.  Seward,"  2 
vols.  (New  York,  1900);  Thornton  H.  Lothrop,  "  William  H. 
Seward"  (Boston,  1896);  Edward  E.  Hale,  "  William  H.  Scw 
ard  "  (Philadelphia,  1910) ;  Albert  B.  Hart,  "  Salmon  P.  Chase  " 
(Boston,  1899)  ;  William  W.  Story,  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph 
Story,"  2  vols.  (Boston,  1851). 


INDEX 


ADAMS,  JOHN,  Webster's  eulogy 
on,  160-161. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  presidential 
candidate  in  1824,  149-152; 
policy  in  respect  to  appoint 
ments,  153-155  ;  candidate  in 
1828,  157-158;  supported  by 
Webster,  190-191. 

Andover,     Webster     speaks     at, 

324-327: 

Antimasonic  Party,  Webster's  at 
titude  toward,  233-234 ;  nomi 
nates  Wirt  for  the  presidency, 

235- 

Apportionment,  Webster's   report 

upon,  244-245. 
Aroostook  War,  308-309. 
Ashburton,  Lord,  negotiates  treaty 

of  Washington,  308-314. 
Austria,  protests  against  the  Mann 

mission,  390. 

BALDWIN,  HENRY,  introduces 
tariff  bill  in  1820,  173. 

Baltimore,  Democrats  nominate 
Pierce  at,  397 ;  Whigs  nomi 
nate  Scott  at,  403-404. 

Bank,  established  in  1816,  100- 
106  ;  Jackson's  attitude  toward, 
238  ;  veto  of  bill  to  re-charter, 
239-242 ;  bills  to  re-charter 
vetoed  by  Tyler,  299-300. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  speaks  on 
Foote's  Resolution,  207. 

Birney,  James  G.,  nominated  for 
president  in  1843,  323. 

Bonus  Bill,  supported  by  Webster, 
109. 

Boscawen,  Webster  begins  prac 
tice  of  law  at,  6 1. 


Boston,  .Webster  studies  law  in, 
55-57";  Webster  removes  to, 
in;  constitutional  convention 
at,  126-131  ;  Webster  elected 
to  Congress  from,  135-136. 

Boston  Anthology,  Webster's 
contributions  to,  62. 

Brinkerhoff,  Jacob,  author  of  the 
Wilmot  provisos,  350. 

Brown,  Francis,  appointed  presi 
dent  of  Dartmouth  College,  1 14. 

Buchanan,  James,  presidential 
candidate  in  1852,  397. 

Buckminster,  John  S.,  tutor  of 
Webster  at  Exeter  Academy,  31. 

Buffalo,  Webster  speaks  at,  388- 

389- 

Bunker  Hill,  corner-stone  of 
monument  laid,  159;  Web 
ster's  oration  at  completion  of 
monument,  320-322. 

CALHOUN,  JOHN  C.,  chairman  of 
House  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  82  ;  reports  bill  for 
repeal  of  embargo  of  1813,  94  ; 
introduces  Bank  Bill  of  1816, 
105  ;  introduces  Bonus  Bill, 
109 ;  vice-presidential  candi 
date  in  1824,  151  ;  fails  to  at 
tain  the  presidency,  230 ; 
speaks  in  opposition  to  the 
Force  Bill,  252  ;  becomes  sec 
retary  of  state,  329  ;  speech  on 
Compromise  of  1850,  368. 

California,  question  of  status  of 
slavery  in,  364-365  ;  discovery 
of  gold,  365  ;  adopts  a  consti 
tution,  366 ;  admitted  as  a  free 
state,  367. 


INDEX 


427 


Capon  Springs,  Webster  speaks 
at,  389. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  estimate  of 
Webster,  287-288. 

Caroline,  destruction  of,  305, 

Cass,  Lewis,  nominated  for  presi 
dency  in  1848,  355  ;  defeated, 
360  ;  presidential  candidate  in 
1852,  397. 

Caucus,  Webster's   objection   to, 

XS2- 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  speech  on 
Compromise  of  1850,  374-375. 

Choate,  Rufus,  succeeds  Webster 
in  the  Senate,  296. 

Clay,  Henry,  reelected  Speaker, 
82;  defends  Webster's  Greek 
resolution,  142 ;  presidential 
candidate  in  1824,  149-152; 
views  on  the  tariff,  175-178; 
presidential  candidate  in  1832, 
231-237,  245  ;  advocates  a 
compromise  tariff  measure,  250- 
254 ;  introduces  resolution  to 
censure  Jackson,  261  ;  fails  to 
attain  presidential  nomination 
in  1840,  290 ;  refuses  to  enter 
Harrison's  cabinet,  293 ;  in 
troduces  resolutions  in  Senate 
in  1841,  297-298;  presidential 
candidate  in  1844,  323»  33°  > 
defeated  by  Polk,  333 ;  pro 
poses  Compromise  measures, 
366-368. 

Constitution,  interpreted  by  Web- 1\ 
ster    in    debate    with    Hayne,  ' 
213-220;  and  in  reply  to  Cal- 
houn  in  1833,  252-254. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  presi 
dential  candidate  in  1824,  151. 

Creole,  case  of,  312-313. 

Crimes  Act,  passed,  146. 

Cuba,  filibustering  expeditions  of 
Lopez,  394-395- 

Cumberland  Road  Bill,  supported 
by  Webster,  147-148. 

Currency,  demoralization  during 
war  of  1812,  101  ;  Webster's 
views  in  1833,  260-261 ;  dis 


orders  in  Van  Buren's  admin 
istration,  280-281  ;  proposals 
for  reform,  284. 

DALLAS,  ALEXANDER  J.,  recom 
mends  establishment  of  a  Bank, 
101  ;  report  on  the  tariff,  107. 

Dartmouth  College,  Webster  en 
ters,  34;  history,  35;  Web 
ster's  experiences  at,  36-45  ; 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  oration  at,  77  ; 
case  of,  113-119;  case  before 
the  Supreme  Court,  119-126; 
decision  of  the  case,  125-126. 

Democratic  Party,  origins,  157- 
158,  229;  in  election  of  1836, 
275-280  ;  in  election  of  1840, 
291-293  ;  nominates  James  K. 
Polk,  331  ;  success  in  election 
of  1844,333;  defeat  in  1848, 
355-360  ;  recovers  strength  in 
1850—1851,396;  nominates 
Pierce  for  the  presidency,  397  ; 
triumph  of  1852,  408. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  advocates 
"squatter  sovereignty,"  364; 
presidential  candidate  in  1852, 
397- 

ELECTION  of  1824,  148-155  ;  of 
1828,  157-158;  of  1832,  231- 
237  J  of  ^36,  274-280;  of 
1840,  289-293 ;  of  1844,  330- 
333;  of  1848,  355-360;  of 
i852.  395-408. 

Elms  rarm,  location,  23. 

Embargo,  Webster's  attitude 
toward  act  of  1807,  75-76  ;  act 
of  1813  repealed,  94-96. 

Erie  Railroad,  opened,  388. 

Expunging  Resolution,  introduced 
by  Ben  ton,  270 ;  opposed  by 
Webster,  270-271. 

FANEUIL  HALL,  controversy  over 
closing  to  Webster,  387-388. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  elected  vice- 
president,  360  ;  succeeds  to  the 
presidency,  375 ;  appoints  Web- 


428 


INDEX 


ster  secretary  of  state,  382- 
383 ;  candidate  for  the  presi 
dential  nomination  in  1852, 
397-398,  403-406. 

Fletcher,  Grace,  married  to  Web 
ster,  67  ;  character,  68. 

Foote,  Samuel  A.,  introduces 
resolution  regarding  public 
lands,  206. 

Force  Bill,  recommended  by  Jack 
son,  249  ;  enacted,  254. 

France,  friction  with  in  Jackson's 
administration,  265-268. 

Free  Soil  Party,  Webster's  lack 
of  sympathy  with,  359. 

Fryeburg  Academy,  Webster 
teaches  in,  49-50. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  attacked, 
385-386. 

GORE,  CHRISTOPHER,  Webster 
studies  in  office  of,  55-57  ;  ad 
vises  Webster  not  to  accept  a 
judicial  clerkship,  57. 

Great  Britain,  visited  by  Web 
ster,  286-288;  difficulties  of 
United  States  with,  304-307  ; 
treaty  of  Washington  concluded 
with,  309-314;  influence  in 
Texas  feared,  328-329  ;  settle 
ment  of  Oregon  controversy 
with,  337-339- 

Greece,  struggle  for  independ 
ence,  139;  Webster's  speech 
concerning,  139-143. 

Guadelupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of, 
354- 

HANOVER,  N.  H.,  Webster's 
Fourth  of  July  oration  in  1800, 

44- 

Harrisburg,  Whig  convention  at, 
290. 

Harrison,  William  H.,  nomi 
nated  for  presidency  in  1836, 
279  ;  nominated  in  1839,  290  ; 
elected  president,  293 ;  offers 
cabinet  posts  to  Clay  and  Web 
ster,  293-295  ;  death,  297. 


Hartford  Convention,  97-98. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  early  political 
career,  207  ;  debate  with  WTeb- 
ster,  208-224. 

Holmes,  John,  in  Dartmouth  Col 
lege  Case,  1 1 8,  124. 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  in  Dartmouth 
College  Case,  118. 

Hungary,  Mann's  mission  10,390  ; 
arrival  of  Louis  Kossuth  from, 

392. 

Hulgemann.  Baron,  presents  Aus 
trian  protest  against  Mann  mis 
sion,  390 ;  receives  reply  from 
Webster,  390-391  ;  protests 
against  reception  of  Kossuth, 
392-393- 

ILLINOIS,  Webster  acquires  land 

in,  283-284. 

Independent  Treasury,  estab 
lished,  284;  abolished,  298; 

reestablished,  344. 
Ingersoll,  Charles  J.,  attack  upon 

Webster,  339-342. 
Internal   Improvements,  Webster 

supports  the   Bonus  Bill,  109  ; 

favors  Cumberland  Road  Bill, 

147- 

JACKSON,  ANDREW,  presidential 
candidate  in  1824,  149-152 ; 
candidate  in  1828,  157-158; 
opposed  by  Webster,  190 ;  in 
augurated  president,  194-195  ; 
first  annual  message,  205  ;  ve 
toes  Maysville  Road  Bill,  226 ; 
favors  Van  Buren  as  successor, 
231  ;  vetoes  Bank  Bill,  239- 
242;  reflected  in  1832,  245; 
issues  proclamation  against 
South  Carolina  nullifiers,  246- 
247  ;  recommends  enactment 
of  Force  Bill,  249  ;  determines 
upon  removal  of  deposits,  259- 
260  ;  protests  against  censure 
by  Senate,  262 ;  assumes  firm 
tone  toward  France,  265-266  ; 
issues  Specie  Circular,  281. 


INDEX 


429 


Jefferson,  Thomas,  Webster's 
eulogy  on,  160-161. 

KINGSTON,  birthplace  of  Ebenezer 

Webster,  17. 
Koszta  Case,  393. 

LIBERTY   PARTY,  convention  of 

1843.  323- 

Lincoln,  Levi,  refuses  to  be 
candidate  for  the  Senate,  164. 

Lopez,  Narcisco,  filibustering  ex 
peditions,  394-395- 

Lyman,  Tueodore,  sued  by  Web 
ster  for  libel,  191-194. 

MADISON,  JAMES,  war  policy 
called  in  question,  83-85  ;  de 
mands  increase  of  the  army, 
97 ;  vetoes  Bank  Bill  of  1815, 
102 ;  approves  Bank  Bill  of 
1816,  106;  vetoes  Bonus  Bill, 
109. 

McLeod,  Alexander,  case  of,  305- 

3°7,  339-341- 
Mallary,    Rollin    C.,    introduces 

tariff  bill,  181. 
Mann,    Dudley    A.,    mission    to 

Austria- Hungary,  390. 
Marcy,  William   L.,  presidential 

candidate  in  1852,  397. 
Marshall,  John,  renders  decision 

in    Dartmouth    College    Case, 

I25- 

Marsh  field,  acquired  and  de 
veloped  by  Webster,  317-319. 

Mason,  Jeremiah,  Webster's 
earlier  acquaintance  with,  70- 
71  ;  attorney  in  Dartmouth 
College  Case,  115. 

Massachusetts,  revision  of  consti 
tution  in  1820,  126-131. 

Mexico,  war  with,  344-346 ; 
treaty  of  Guadelupe  Hidalgo, 

354- 
Mills,  Elijah  H.,  retirement  from 

Senate,  163. 
Monroe,   James,   explanation    in 


reply  to  Webster's  resolutions 
of  1813,  85-86. 

NATIONAL  REPUBLICANS,  in  elec 
tion  of  1828,  157-158;  in  elec 
tion  of  1832,  231-237. 

Nature,  Webster's  love  of,  415. 

New  England,  growth  of  popula 
tion,  15-17  ;  life  in,  19-20  ;  at 
titude  toward  protectionism, 
170-186. 

New  Hampshire,  early  life  in, 
19-20;  ratifies  the  Constitu 
tion,  22. 

New  Mexico,  question  of  status 
of  slavery  in,  364-365,  367. 

New  Orleans,  Spanish  consulate 
attacked,  394~395- 

Niblo's  Garden,  Webster's  speech 
at,  282. 

Nullification,  in  South  Carolina, 
246-255. 

ORATORY,  Webster's  achieve 
ments  in,  417-418. 

Oregon,  various  claims  to,  336 ; 
disputed  by  Great  Britain  and 
United  States,  337-338. 

PANAMA  CONGRESS,  Webster's 
speech  on,  156. 

Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  at 
tended  by  Webster,  30-32. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  nominated  for 
president,  397  ;  elected,  408. 

Plymouth,  bicentennial  celebra 
tion  in  1820,  131-132;  Web 
ster's  oration,  132-134. 

Plumer,  William,  elected  gov 
ernor  of  New  Hampshire,  114- 

XI5- 

Polk,  James  K.,  nominated  for 
presidency,  331 ;  gives  notice 
to  Great  Britain  concerning 
Oregon,  338 ;  policy  during 
Mexican  War,  344-354. 

Portsmouth,  Webster  removes  to, 
65  ;  fire,  87. 


430 


INDEX 


RANDOLPH,  JOHN,  challenges 
Webster  to  a  duel,  108. 

Rockingham  Memorial,  written 
by  Webster,  79-80. 

SALISBURY,  incorporated,  17 ; 
Webster  teaches  school  at,  40. 

Scott,  Winfield,  presidential  pos 
sibility  in  1848,  355;  candi 
date  for  presidential  nomina 
tion  in  1852,  398;  receives 
nomination,  404  ;  defeated  by 
Pierce,  408. 

Sectionalism,  growth  of,  199- 
202. 

Seward,  William  H.,  speech  on 
Compromise  of  1850,  374-375. 

Slavery,  Webster's  attitude 
toward,  346-349  ;  proposals  to 
exclude  from  new  territory, 
350 ;  questions  after  Mexican 
War,  363-366  ;  in  Compromise 
of  1850,  366-382. 

Slave  Trade,  provision  of  Treaty 
of  Washington  concerning,  311. 

Smith,  Jeremiah,  attorney  in 
Dartmouth  College  Case,  115. 

South  Carolina,  "  Exposition," 
203-205  ;  nullification  in,  246- 

255- 

Spain,  demands  reparation  for 
New  Orleans  outrage,  394- 

395- 

Specie  Circular,  280-281. 

Stevens,  Ebenezer,  obtains  grant 
on  the  Jl/errt'mac,  17. 

Stevenstown,  founded,  17  ;  Ebe 
nezer  Webster  settles  at,  18. 

Supreme  Court,  Webster  begins 
practice  in,  96 ;  decision  in 
Dartmouth  College  Case,  125- 
126;  Webster's  proposal  to  in 
crease  membership,  144. 

TARIFF,  bill  passed  in  1816,  107- 
108 ;  Hamilton's  proposals 
concerning,  170;  Webster's 
earlier  views  on,  171-172;  the 
Baldwin  bill,  173  ;  Webster's 


views  in  1820,  174-176;  his 
views  in  1824,  177-180;  the 
Mallary  bill,  181  ;  act  of  1828, 
182  ;  Southern  discontent  con 
cerning,  202-206;  Jackson's 
attitude  toward,  205-206  ;  nul 
lification  in  South  Carolina, 
246-249  ;  Compromise  meas 
ure  of  1833,  250-254;  report 
by  Robert  J.  Walker,  343  ;  act 
of  1846,  343. 

Tavenner,  G.  A.,  Webster's  cor 
respondence  with,  400-403. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  in  Mexican 
War,  344  ;  becomes  a  presi 
dential  candidate,  355-357  ; 
nominated  in  1848,  357  ; 
elected,  360;  Webster's  atti 
tude  toward,  361-363  ;  death, 
375.  382. 

Texas,  asks  for  annexation  to  the 
United  States,  328;  treaty  of 
annexation,  ^30-332  ;  Webster 
opposes  annexntion,  332  ;  an 
nexed  by  joint  resolution,  334, 
336. 

Thompson,  Thomas  W.,  \\ebster 
studies  law  with,  47—48. 

Trist,  Nicholas  P.,  negotiates 
treaty  of  Guadelupe  Hidalgo, 

354- 

Troup,  George  M.,  reports  en 
listment  bill,  90. 

Tyler,  John,  nominated  for  vice- 
president,  290  ;  becomes  presi 
dent,  297  ;  breaks  with  the 
Whigs,  298-301  ;  submits 
treaty  annexing  Texas,  330  ; 
renews  proposal  for  annex 
ation,  334  ;  defends  Webster, 


UPSHUR,  ABEL  P.,  advocates  an 
nexation  of  Texas,  329. 

VAN  BUREN,  MARTIN,  favored 
by  Jackson  as  successor,  231  ; 
nomination  as  minister  to  Great 
Britain  rejected,  243-244; 


INDEX 


431 


elected  vice-president,  245  ; 
nominated  for  the  presidency, 
274 ;  elected  president,  279- 
280;  advocates  the  Independ 
ent  Treasury,  284;  candidate 
for  reelection,  291-293;  fails 
of  Democratic  nomination  in 
1844,  331  ;  nominated  by  Free- 
Soilers  in  1848,  359. 
Verplanck,  G.  C.,  reports  tariff 
bill,  250. 

WALKER,  ROBERT  J.,  report  on 
the  tariff,  343. 

Washington,  treaty  of,  309-314; 
treaty,  defended  by  Webster, 
340- 

Webster,  Daniel,  birth,  23 ;  child 
hood,  24 ;  early  attendance  at 
school,  25-26  ;  intellectual  apt 
ness,  27  ;  makes  acquaintance 
of  the  Constitution,  28;  at 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  30- 
31  ;  backwardness  in  declama 
tion,  31— 32;  studies  with  Dr. 
Wood,  32-34 ;  enters  Dart 
mouth,  34;  studies  and  tastes 
in  college,  36 ;  procures  col 
lege  education  for  brother  Eze- 
kiel,  38-39  ;  comments  on  poli 
tics  in  1800,  41-43 ;  acquires 
facility  in  public  speaking,  43- 
44 ;  delivers  Fourth  of  July 
speech  at  Hanover,  44  ;  gradu 
ation,  45  ;  adopts  profession  of 
law,  47 ;  studies  with  Mr. 
Thompson,  47-48 ;  becomes 
instructor  at  Fryeburg  Acad 
emy,  49-50 ;  resumes  law 
studies,  52-53;  goes  to  Boston, 
55  ;  in  office  of  Christopher 
Gore,  55-57 ;  appointed  to  a 
judicial  clerkship,  57  ;  refuses 
the  appointment,  58  ;  admitted 
to  the  bar,  59 ;  practices  at 
Boscawen,  61-64 ;  contributes 
to  Boston  Anthology,  62 ;  re 
moves  to  Portsmouth,  65  ;  first 
marriage,  67  ;  family  life,  68; 


growth  in  professional  experi 
ence,  69  ;  relations  with  Jere 
miah  Mason,  70-71  ,  Federal 
ist  sympathies,  73-75  ;  pam 
phlet  on  Embargo  Act,'76 ;  atti 
tude  toward  the  war  of  1812, 
77-79  J  author  of  the  Rocking- 
ham  Memorial,  79-80  ;  elected 
to  Congress,  81  ;  member  of 
Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions,  82 ;  resolutions  on  the 
war  of  1812,  84-88;  property 
destroyed  by  fire,  87 ;  speaks 
on  extension  of  rules  of  war, 
89  ;  on  an  enlistment  bill,  91- 
93 ;  and  on  repeal  of  embargo 
of  1813,  94-96;  begins  prac 
tice  in  Supreme  Court,  96  ;  at 
titude  toward  Hartford  Con 
vention,  98;  opposes  the  war 
taxes,  99-100 ;  and  a  draft 
project,  IOO;  participates  in 
debate  of  the  Bank  question, 
102-103 ;  opposes  tariff  of 
1816,  107-108;  challenged  to 
a  duel  by  John  Randolph,  108 ; 
supports  Calhoun's  Bonus  Bill, 
109 ;  retires  from  Congress, 
109;  removes  to  Boston,  ni; 
becomes  involved  in  Dart 
mouth  College  Case,  115-116; 
prepares  to  argue  case  before 
Supreme  Court,  117-118;  ar 
gument  of  the  case,  119-124; 
victory,  125-126;  participates 
in  amendment  of  constitution 
of  Massachusetts,  126-131 ;  de 
livers  oration  at  Plymouth,  131- 
134;  reflected  to  Congress, 
135-136;  chairman  of  Judi 
ciary  Committee,  137  ;  speaks 
in  behalf  of  Greek  independ 
ence,  139-143 ;  proposes  in 
crease  of  membership  of  Su 
preme  Court,  144-145 ;  procures 
passage  of  Crimes  Act,  146 ; 
supports  Cumberland  Road 
Bill,  147-148;  political  incli 
nations  in  1822-1824,  148- 


432 


INDEX 


i    • 


151  ;  objections  to  congres 
sional  caucus,  152;  forecast  of 
Adams's  policy,  153-155  ;  de 
fends  Adams's  administration, 
155-156  ;  prosecutes  Spanish 
claims,  158 ;  delivers  first 
Bunker  Hill  oration,  159-160; 
and  eulogy  on  Jefferson  and 
Adams,  160-161  ;  visits  Vir 
ginia,  162  ;  and  Niagara  Falls, 
162 ;  elected  to  the  Senate, 
165;  death  of  wife,  166-167; 
early  views  on  the  tariff,  171- 
172  ;  speech  of  1824,  177-180  ; 
supports  protectionism  in  1828, 
182-186;  tendered  dinner  at 
Boston,  187-189;  supports 
Adams  for  reelection,  190-191 ; 
sues  Theodore  Lyman  for 
libel,  191-194;  death  of 
brother  Ezekiel,  196-198;  sec 
ond  marriage,  199  ;  first  speech 
on  Foote's  Resolution,  208- 
210;  the  "  Second  Reply  "  to 
Hayne,  211-222;  effects  of 
the  debate,  223-226  ;  speeches 
published,  227  ;  begins  auto 
biography,  227-228 ;  partici 
pates  in  the  Knapp  trials,  228 ; 
attitude  toward  Antimasonic 
party,  233  ;  tendered  a  dinner 
in  New  York,  234 ;  advocates 
rechartering  of  the  Bank,  238- 
239  ;  discusses  the  powers  of 
the  Executive,  240-242 ;  re 
ports  on  reapportionment  of 
representatives,  244-245  ; 
speaks  at  Worcester,  248  ;  sup 
ports  Jackson's  course  against 
nullification,  250 ;  replies  to 
Calhoun,  252-254  ;  makes  visit 
to  Middle  West,  256  ;  becomes 
chairman  of  Senate  Committee 
on  Finance,  260 ;  defends 
Clay's  resolution  censuring 
Jackson,  262-264  ;  speaks  on 
the  French  spoliation  claims, 
266—268  ;  speaks  on  the  power 
of  removal  from  office,  268- 


270;  opposes  Benton's  Ex 
punging  Resolution,  270-271  ;, 
presidential  candidate  in  1836, 
275-280 ;  proposes  to  retire 
from  public  life,  281  ;  speaks 
at  Niblo's  Garden,  282  ;  again 
visits  the  West,  283;  opposes 
the  Independent  Treasury, 
284  ;  visits  England,  286-288  ; 
participates  in  campaign  of 
1840,291  ;  appointed  secretary 
of  state,  295  ;  resigns  seat  in 
Senate,  296 ;  refuses  to  join 
colleagues  in  retiring  from  cab 
inet,  300-301  ;  settles  the  Mc- 
Leod  affair,  306-307 ;  nego 
tiates  treaty  of  Washington, 
309—314  ;  speaks  in  defense  of 
his  course,  315  ;  retires  from 
the  cabinet,  315  ;  life  at  Marsh- 
field,  317-319  ;  financial  pres 
sure,  319-320 ;  delivers  second 
Bunker  Hill  oration,  320-322; 
visits  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  323  ; 
urged  for  presidential  nomina 
tion  in  1843-1844,  323-327  ; 
detects  plan  for  annexation  of 
Texas,  329-330 ;  takes  part  in 
campaign  of  1844,  332>  re- 
turns  to  the  Senate,  334  ;  op 
poses  Texan  annexation,  335  ; 
urges  49°  as  Oregon  boundary, 
338-339 ;  attacked  by  Inger 
soil,  339-342 ;  accepts  an  an 
nuity,  342  ;  opposes  conduct  of 
the  war  with  Mexico,  345-346, 
353— 354  ;  opposition  to  slavery, 
346-349;  visits  the  South,  35 2; 
death  of  son  Edward,  353 ; 
death  of  daughter  Julia,  355  ; 
fails  to  obtain  presidential 
nomination  in  1848,  355-357  ; 
participates  reluctantly  in  cam 
paign,  359-360 ;  attitude 
toward  Taylor  Administration, 
361-362;  Seventh  of  March 
speech,  368-374  ;  criticized  by 
anti-slavery  leaders,  376-378  ; 
merits  of  his  course,  378-382 ; 


INDEX 


433 


becomes  secretary  of  state  in 
Fillmore's  cabinet,  382-383; 
pleased  with  the  adoption  of 
the  Compromise  measures,  384- 
385  ;  insists  upon  the  finality 
of  the  Compromise,  385-387  ; 
refused  the  use  of  Faneuil  Hall, 
387  ;  speeches  at  Buffalo,  388- 
389;  at  Albany,  389;  and  at 
Capon  Springs,  389;  delivers 
address  at  laying  of  corner 
stone  of  addition  to  the  Capitol, 
389;  letter  to  Baron  Hiilse- 
mann,  390-393  ;  participates  in 
reception  of  Louis  Kossuth, 
392-393 ;  adjusts  controversy 
over  attack  on  Spanish  con 
sulate  at  New  Orleans,  394- 
395  ;  candidacy  for  Whig  nom 
ination  in  1852,  398-399;  cor 
respondence  with  Tavenner, 
400-403 ;  fails  to  receive  the 
nomination,  403-406;  inde 
pendent  tickets  put  in  the  field, 
406 ;  disappointment,  407- 
408  ;  in  physical  decline,  408- 
410;  death,  411;  burial,  411- 
412;  weaknesses  of  the  man, 
412-413;  physical  aspects, 
413-414;  hospitality  and  love 
of  humor,  414  ;  interest  in  Na 
ture,  415  ;  patriotism,  415- 
416;  intellectual  power,  416- 

417 ;  jzoiaricaUkin,  417-418 ; 

qualities  of  statesmanship,  4 1 9- 
420. 

Webster,  Ebenezer,  birth,  17; 
early  life,  18;  settles  at  Stevens- 
town  (Salisbury),  18-19;  per 
sonal  appearance,  19-20 ;  sec 
ond  marriage,  20 ;  in  the 
Revolution,  21  ;  in  civil  office, 
21-22 ;  children,  20,  23  ;  re 
moval  to  Elms  Farm,  23 ; 
elected  judge,  29  ;  sends  Daniel 
to  college,  29-34 ;  consents  to 


a  college  education  for  Ezekiel, 
38-39 ;  failing  health,  61 ; 
death,  64. 

Webster,  Edward,  death,  353. 

Webster,  Ezekiel,  birth,  23  ;  pre 
pares  to  enter  college,  37-39  ; 
need  of  money,  50-5 1  ;  finds 
temporary  employment  in  Bos 
ton,  54;  takes  over  Daniel's 
interests  in  Boscawen,  65  ;  at 
titude  toward  candidacy  of 
Adams,  150-151,  153;  nomi 
nated  to  Congress,  196 ;  death, 
196-198. 

Wentworth,  Benning,  governor  of 
New  Hampshire,  17. 

Wheelock,  John,  dismissed  from 
presidency  of  Dartmouth  Col 
lege,  114- 

Whig  Party,  origins,  229-230, 
275  ;  in  election  of  1836,  275- 
280 ;  nominates  Harrison  and 
Tyler,  290;  in  campaign  of 
1840,  290-294 ;  difficulties 
while  in  power,  297-301  ;  de 
clining  fortunes,  302-303 ; 
nominates  Clay  in  1844,330; 
opposes  annexation  of  Texas, 
332;  triumph  in  1848,  355- 
360;  loses  ground  in  1850- 
1&S  !>  396  J  nominates  Scott  for 
the  presidency,  403-404;  dis 
ruption  and  defeat,  407-408. 

Wilmot,  David,  introduces  anti- 
slavery  provisos,  350. 

Wirt,  William,  in  Dartmouth 
College  Case,  118-119;  Anti- 
masonic  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  235-236. 

Wood,  Rev.  Samuel,  helps  pre 
pare  Webster  for  college,  32- 

34- 

Woodward,  William  H.,  case  of 
Dartmouth  College  against, 


14  DAY  USE 

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